The Conspiracy
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Return of the Demons. Four months after the defeat of the Witch-Queen of Angmar everyone is gearing up for the upcoming Christmas yet, out of nowhere, a failed terrorist strike is the prelude to a network of mystery, corruption and challenges staged by a new enemy who works behind the scenes: no - one will be safe from their plots and devices. Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: It starts with a bang

**The Conspiracy**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: It starts with a bang**

20:55 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 17th, 2005…

"… And thus my agents have confirmed total destruction of both the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" and "Nebula Grey"… Yet…"

"Yet?"

"Ah. The outside factor, you mean to say, Mr. Sponsor?"

"Outside factor? May I know the details?"

"Certainly, Mr. Admin…"

Three men had gathered around a round polished oak table set inside of a modest living room in house somewhere: the curtains were drawn and the blinders lowered: the only lighting was a portable lamp set on the very center of the table and most of the room was unlit.

"But if you have something else to report, Mr. Denpa…"

"I do not, sir… Please continue."

The man addressed as "Mr. Denpa" appealed as being on his mid 20s and around a meter and eighty tall.

His hair was brown in color, had the looks of a recent cut and was neatly combed: his eyes' irises were brown and he had traces of a recently shaved beard and moustache.

He also had reading glasses on.

He wore a simple black raincoat with a lowered hood, jeans, black socks and black sneakers.

He was currently intercrossing both hands' fingers and leaning them on the edge of the table as he sat on the upper left corner and looked at the interlocutor opposite his position.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Sponsor?"

"There's the possibility."

The man located in the upper right corner appealed as being on the same age as "Mr. Denpa" and around his same height.

His hair was colored jet black and was somewhat uncared for yet he was neatly shaved as well: his eyes' irises were blue and he displayed a small hint of worry.

He wore a simple black suit and tie plus pants and brown shoes: he had the looks of a simple businessman to him.

"According to the ONBA report, before the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" was deleted, she admitted that she'd had external help regarding the barrier-generating robe and necklace-shaped control device she always wore on her… She did get to pronounce the name "Towa" before she died off. I believe that it is but the start of a name yet all searches have turned out nothing…" "Mr. Sponsor" detailed.

"I see."

"Thus we name it the outside factor, Mr. Admin, sir…"

"Mr. Admin" was largely older than both of them given how he appealed to be on his early sixties yet he was taller than both of the other interlocutors.

A dense black beard covered his face and his eyes' irises were brown too yet they displayed knowledge and calmness.

He wore a black tuxedo combined with pants and shoes.

"Mr. Sponsor: I'd like of you to continue researches into this "outside factor" along with Mr. Denpa… Real-world research is a must given the high degree of monitoring in the Network: we don't want the ONBA to get the wrong idea about us, do we?"

"No, sir. We do not." "Mr. Denpa" quickly replied.

"Is there anything else?"

"Oh. True. There is one survivor of the organization: a pale imitation of the former Zero Virus which now goes by the alias of "Black Doom"… He seems to have increased in power ever since August and shows up in flash to disappear as suddenly as he came. All attempts to trace him have failed because he avoids obvious places. The entire "Angband" complex has been explored and most of its tunnels have been caved in to reduce the number of hiding places… The Sweden ONBA is responsible for surveying that mole and making sure no – one tries to get past their vigilance." "Mr. Sponsor" reported as he looked at some notes.

"Obviously… Once again I apologize for abusing of your hospitality and using your house to hold these unofficial meetings…"

"Oh. Please, sir… I do not mind it. This is but my second residence: and given how quiet and empty this district is then it's easy to have these meetings with absolute frankness…"

"You are humble."

"Ah… Thank you very much, sir. Do remember that I never question your authority, sir… I am but an external advisor. You are the rightful leader of the "Committee"…"

"Incidentally… How much progress has been done with the dismantling of the "Secret Empire" assets?"

"Ah. That's a curious thing. Someone has been providing information to the police and after some difficulty I found out that it was a hacker known as "Hack" along with his Net Navi "Grand" who are employed by someone only vaguely referred as "Mr. Smith" in ONBA files… He is some kind of informer who shows up with useful information or devices which can help out… He's been doing so ever since March… Remember, the "Heart Server" incident…" "Mr. Sponsor" explained to them.

"That is intriguing… That Mr. Smith seems to be pretty interested in the dismantling of such facilities… And if he has the trust of the ONBA then he definitely is in our side…" "Mr. Admin" looked slightly intrigued.

"Indeed, sir…"

"Ah. It's ten past nine. I must be going. Let us meet again at this hour next Thursday. I wouldn't desire to rob of you of the right to celebrate Christmas' Eve at all." He smiled at them.

"Thank you very much." Both thanked as they stood up and made a polite reverence.

It happened without warning: a brutal deflagration rang out from the street and it was powerful enough to shatter the windows and make the southern window's blinders shake: the men had to grab into the table so as to not to lose their balance and lowered their heads: the sounds began to die down yet the unmistakable smell of burning petrol, leather, plastic and metal began to pour inside of the room.

"By all the… Was that…?" "Mr. Admin" gasped.

The three men ran out into the corridor and then exited outside to see a car burning right next to the house's main entrance: it was emitting smoke and a crater had formed in a four meter radius around it thus shattering a water pipe which began to leak water out.

"My car! My black Audi! James! My driver! James!"

"… I don't see anyone in the cabin…!" "Mr. Denpa" muttered.

"A bomb-rigged car? In JAPAN? We've never had these here as far as I can remember!" "Mr. Sponsor" gasped.

"Damn it! Answer me, James!"

"Calm down, sir! I'll go fetch the fire extinguisher!"

"Mr. Sponsor" rushed back inside of the house and took out a fire extinguisher which he aimed at the burning wreck: the flames began to recede and they began to look around what was left of the frame to try to locate the driver yet no body was anywhere to be seen.

"Strange. Say, sir… Did you have your car repaired recently?"

"Well… Not. Yet… James is a new one. Kuno, the former one, got the flu and James has been replacing him for 3 weeks already…"

"I've called the police and the firefighters." "Mr. Sponsor" reported as he came back from inside of the house.

"Good… Yet… Could this be a ploy by "them"?"

"The "Common Patterns"… So they've gotten desperate. Say, sir! You always leave at exactly 21:15 PM and we stand near the car to see you off… Right, sir?" "Mr. Denpa" asked.

"It is 21:17 yet that explosion seems to have been triggered at around 21:11… Maybe their clock was not properly timed and the bomb went off 5 minutes earlier than expected!" "Mr. Sponsor" seemed to guess.

"So they were aiming for the three of us. We have an insider yet… Not even the Department Chiefs know where I go and have the meetings or how many persons… So how could a mere spy find it out if there's no register to begin with?" "Mr. Admin" reflected.

"… James. He has to be the traitor! He's in the best position to set the bomb and everything… And look at what I've found in what's left of the trunk, sir!"

"Mr. Denpa" showed them a largely melt down and charred dummy which had some remains of a driver's uniform on it: both "Mr. Sponsor" and "Mr. Admin" gasped in surprise.

"Damn them! Up until now all conflicts had been cutting off their influences and their infiltrations of politics yet now they seem to have gotten desperate to see how we're gaining the upper hand in this 40 year – long conflict!" "Mr. Admin" growled.

"What do we tell the police?" "Mr. Denpa" asked.

"Let us go with my public image as the President of the Life Safe Inc. Ameroupe Home Office… An assassination attempt by a desperate loan shark – backed company which is being cracked down by us… That will be convincing enough. James McEdelson! You won't be able to laugh for long: with the help of our resources we'll locate you!"

"Get ready!" "Mr. Sponsor" icily hissed.

20:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Job's done, gimme the agreed 50000 Z…"

"Good. Here you have the check and the passport: you'll need to use this disguise for a while and flee the country: the mannequin will quickly be seen through and the damned cops will can on the Interpol. We don't wanna them around."

"Okay, _Danna_…"

"… We interrupt this broadcast to bring in urgent news: a car has been reported to explode in Yokohama 3rd District's Takeda Avenue… Initial police and firefighters information reveals that the car was bomb-rigged and that the _chauffeur_ of it, James McEdelson, might be behind the _attempted_ assassination ploy…"

"WHAT! Oi! You! What does this mean? "Attempted"…? The bomb went off but they didn't get blown off? Explain!"

"Damn it!"

"Explain!"

"Che! Well! My clock was faulty, it'd seem! It went off sooner than expected! No big deal, so I'm off!"

"Not so fast, McEdelson! The written agreement says that the 50000Z will be given _once their death has been confirmed_!"

A man on his 30s having black hair (plus brown irises) and wearing sports clothes was meeting with another man on his 50s who had brown hair and irises plus a beard inside of a room somewhere: a briefcase having several bundles of notes inside had been set opened atop a desk and a nearby radio was relaying the news: the man on his 50s had drawn a Beretta handgun and McEdelson had drawn a scout knife.

"Shaddup! This money is mine!"

"Die!"

"You die!"

They tackled each other and began to fight across the room: the table got hit and it fell into the ground thus tossing the bundles of bank notes across the room: the older man was trying to aim the Beretta but McEdelson had stabbed the side of it with the knife and kept it aiming elsewhere: the man began to shoot at wild and the shots rang out inside of the room while McEdelson removed the knife and lifted it to aim for the older man: he suddenly got shot in the shoulder from a close distance and he growled as he dropped the knife and tried to steal the gun from the older man: they rolled across the ground and began to punch each other until they hit a shelf and the radio fell atop the older man's head knocking him out: McEdelson growled and quickly picked some bundles before running off the room without bothering to pick the handgun: the older man groaned and quickly stood up.

"Damn it, McEdelson! If you think you can ditch Admin 5 of the T Syndicate then you're very mistaken! You won't get far: but I gotta scram before someone calls the police… This is a hotel after all!"

Growling he quickly tossed the bank notes bundles inside of the suitcase and ran out into the corridor while wielding McEdelson's knife: he picked the emergency stairs and ran them down until he reached the rear of the hotel: he quickly snuck out into the street but a figure dropped down from somewhere higher and barred his path with what seemed to be some kind of sword.

"W-who!"

"… Admin 5. You're an imbecile. Doctor T's orders were to kill that man once he came here: and the bait payment was to be 10000Z and not 50000Z… Most of those are prototype fakes taken out of our labs without authorization from Doctor T." A voice intoned while making some eerie "breathing" sounds.

"Y-you're…!"

"Thus your usefulness has expired. I've been sent to cleanse: Satan's waiting for you in Hell!"

"No! Step away! Don't come closer!"

20:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff, huff… Hiding in this garbage recollection point will do for the time being… If a car comes close by I can always take it and flee before the cops can get a hold of my trail… I should've killed the old man but I was on a rush to get out before the cops came there… Whatever! I have the passport and 10000Z… I change them into coins by using vending machines and they vanish without a trace! I can buy a disguise in the black market too…"

McEdelson was hiding behind some garbage bags and containers and muttering aloud as he looked around.

"Damn it. Luckily I had a sensor telling me when the bomb was gonna go off so I could flee but didn't have time to finish preparing the mannequin on its place… Che."

"Too bad. Those plans won't come to happen."

"Who the hell!"

McEdelson turned around and spotted a figure looming over him plus a blade totally stained in blood: the figure suddenly seized his neck with the left hand and McEdelson began to shoot at him yet the bullets seemed to bounce off something.

"Useless."

"What the hell! Lemme go, you punk!"

"No. I've come to cleanse this mess. The _Katana Assassin _came… And Satan's expecting you in Hell too!"

"T-t-t-the _Katana Assassin_! Impossible!"

"Impossible? No. Now get ready… All will be over quickly enough!"

"Damn you!"

McEdelson tossed the gun at enemy and broke free: he pulled something and ended up picking some crimson strands of hair: something suddenly was driven through him and he roared in agony…

21:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Doctor T. Master. I'm back."

"Ah. Black Doom… How was it?"

"Refreshing, Master."

"That sounds like you, alright."

"Both are silenced and the cops will deduce they were in a league: I've set some papers on Admin 5 to remove all linking to us… They're going to think he was a subsidiary of that loan shark-backed company in Kentucky so investigations will be led there… Regarding McEdelson they'll believe he was the one who killed Admin 5 given how I gave him my _katana_. Heh, heh, heh…"

"I know the rest of the plan. A _katana_ case will be left at Admin 5's hotel room and it'll have both of their fingerprints… It'll look like Admin 5 ran away but McEdelson caught up with him thus killing him before he was found by the _Katana_ _Assassin_ and killed too… How dramatic yet how supreme. My Master would've appreciated such a work."

A Net Navi who looked very similar to Zero (but having purple eyes, crimson hair and black armor instead) was kneeling in front of a cylinder having a black armchair set atop it 2 meters from the ground: eight hologram projectors had been set around the edges of the vast metallic room which was barely lit at all thus hiding the scale of it: a figure could be spotted sitting in the chair and sounding amused.

"I guess we'll need to replace Admin 5, then?"

"Correct. The Vice-Admin will step in. What happened to his superior will be enough to terrorize him for life and he'll never think of going outside of written orders… Fear is useful to keep weaklings under control when they realize they have zero chance of fighting back… And his example will be remembered by the other 7… See? This is the art: turning a nuisance into something beneficial at a very little cost!"

"Brilliant, Doctor T."

"Heh! Too bad I couldn't dispose of those three yet such an opportunity won't come to happen ever again. But they must be blaming the obvious guys by now… Heh, heh, heh… The time of the year will also be in our benefit: this winter will extinguish the energy of the foolish plebeians going up and down and they'll be unable to fight back if we strike. However! By strike I don't mean all out war. No! By strike I mean a single blow which can be blamed to some disposable grunts… And their over-confidence and feeling of security will crumble! Thus our propaganda will begin to crawl inside of them and kin-strife will be created! And during that instability then our T Syndicate can extend its reach and come closer to controlling key aspects of this nation…" "Doctor T" exposed while sounding slightly amused.

"I see…! So deep and so well-thought… There's no intelligence surpassing that of yours, Boss!" Black Doom sounded awed.

"I appreciate the compliments. And don't worry… You'll have countless chances to taste the fear and despair plus the blood of those foolish humans… Powerless to halt you!"

"Your will!" He made a reverence.

"Now rest. And train! If you seek to win by strategy and intelligence then no opponent can stand up to you. And soon enough that bothersome red jerk will be reduced to a new gravestone standing in Cyber City's Reverse Internet Graveyard…" "Doctor T" told Black Doom.

"Such is my desire. If you shall excuse me…"

He warped out of the room while "Doctor T" seemed to make a smirk as a holographic screen displaying a city map popped out and one building was signaled with a red circle.

"There… I'll go scouting… And maybe I'll find that man. But I won't act yet: the ONBA supports that man… Yet one day I'll make that man pay for the treason… And you, "V", shall be next! Stick out your neck, my enemy! For this is the start… of a conspiracy. Hah… Heh, heh… Hah, hah, ha~h!"

"Doctor T" laughed aloud in an evil tone of voice…


	2. Chapter 2: Of brooms and mops

**Chapter 2: Of brooms and mops**

09:09 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 18th…

"… Ya~h! De masu~! Crashing Smashing Rolling Ascending Mop!"

"Yamitarou! Stop acting the idiot already! Will you!"

"De masu~! Cutting Slicing Slashing Broom!"

"YAMITAROU~!"

"WHA! Number Man, de masu! What's wrong? De masu?"

"Listen to me: you're making a fool of yourself!"

"No! This is a man's duty: to defend his store! De masu!"

"Defend from WHAT or WHO?"

"Those two, de masu!"

"Not that again… They have the right to open a store in Densan City! Everyone has! Accept it, Yamitarou! You're not the only Battle Chip Store in the world!"

"But I hate cutting things, de masu! That's why I have to find a way around, de masu!"

"Yamitarou! You aren't a _samurai_!"

Higure Yamitarou was fooling around inside of his Higureya store using both a broom and a mop like they were _katana_: Number Man EXE sounded exasperated and annoyed while Higure tried to come up with poor arguments to back his actions.

"I am! De masu!"

"No, you aren't!"

"I am! De masu!"

"Stop fooling around!"

"No, de masu! I am training! De masu!"

"That's fooling around! Wanna train? Join a _kendo_ club!"

"No, de masu!"

"Then take care of the store!"

"I can't, de masu! My blood's boiling, de masu!"

"Is that so? Mr. Higure."

"O~h! Kanou – san, de masu!"

A man had suddenly come out of the store: he appealed as being around his 20s and had chestnut brown color hair: he struck off as being slightly over a meter and eighty tall.

He was wearing a gray raincoat over a black suit plus black tie and brown shoes plus a hat and a pair of sunglasses.

"Mr. Shade! Please don't give him funny ideas or we'll be laughed at by the press!" Number Man pleaded.

"Oh, my, my. That would be no good, certainly." The man politely admitted.

"Then what should I do? De masu?"

"Hmmm… Challenge them to a Net Battle perhaps?" He suggested next with a smile.

"Net Battle, de masu… Hmmm…" Higure seemed to be thinking about it given how he brought the right hand to his chin.

"Yes! That's exactly what we need!" Number Man exclaimed.

"Nah, de masu. I thought as much: the mop and broom battle is manlier and it'll make me look more like a man to Mariko – sensei!"

"NO~! THAT WON'T DO, YAMITAROU~!"

"Yikes! De masu! Don't yell so much, Number Man! De masu!" He protested back.

"Oh, my. Higure – san! It's been a while…"

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Mariko – sensei~! De masu~ !"

"Are you cleansing the store? Oh my. I've seen you sometimes around the district… Do you live nearby, sir?"

"Do excuse me, ma'am. Kanou Shade, ma'am…"

The man took off the hat and sunglasses to reveal how his eyes' irises were colored blue: he made a gallant bow and Mariko giggled at it to Higure's disbelief.

"My. You look like a chevalier."

"Ah… Is that so?" He sounded surprised.

"Don't mind it! I wasn't being serious… Well then, Higure – san… Good luck with the store!"

"R-r-r-roger! MA'AM!" He exclaimed as he straightened himself and saluted thus letting go of both broom and mop which fell into the ground: Mariko giggled.

"Goodbye!"

She walked away while humming a tune and Higure gasped as he quickly picked both of those: he leant the broom against the building and drew the mop like if it was a _katana_.

"Alright! De masu! Come! De masu! Splitting Molding Cracking Roaring Flying Mop! DE MASU~!"

He began to swing the mop around like crazy and Kanou Shade chuckled as he put the hat and sunglasses back on: Higure suddenly hit a tree and a bird there began to pick on his head: Higure yelped and began to run around like mad as he tried to shake it off.

"Someone call the bird exterminators! De masu~!"

"My. Bird exterminators. You could patent it."

"Kami – sama~! Save me! De masu~!"

"Yamitarou! You _idiot_!"

09:19 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh… There! And there! And here! Take these! I win! The best _kendo_ swordsman in the nation… Hikari Netto!"

"Ijuuin Enzan."

"Wha~t? Damn you, Enzan! Wha!"

THUD!

"O~w… Saito – niisan…!"

"Yeah. Stop fantasizing. There's work to do."

"What work? Winter vacations kicked off on Friday!"

"Cleansing your room."

"_Our_ room!"

"I'm a Net Navi. The room's yours."

"No fair!"

"Fair. I've been doing ALL household chores EVER SINCE MARCH. And YOU ALWAYS SKIP THEM. Time to do some work! Here!"

"Yikes! Let go of my right ear!"

"Wake up, get dressed and get to work."

Hikari Netto, aged 12, had been dreaming when Saito (wearing a blue sleeveless vest over a white shirt plus jeans and white sneakers) woke him up making him fall from the bed: he looked pretty ill-humored and he pulled Netto's right ear while venting out his bad mood.

"When did you become my CO?" Netto groaned.

"The older brother has to fix the mistakes of the younger."

"That's a _cliché_!"

"No. It's reality. Get on the move. You have 15 minutes. No more and no less. I'll be waiting downstairs."

Saito came out and closed the door while Netto groaned and looked pretty annoyed.

"Damn it… When I wanna have fun he comes up with that… I now wish Copy Roids hadn't been invented." He groaned.

He grudgingly changed into his usual street clothes while ignoring a folded middle school uniform set atop a chair: he interacted with the PC but didn't seem to spot anything interesting so he headed downstairs where Haruka was humming a tune and watching TV: Saito was sitting in one of the living room's chairs next to the table and looking unimpressed as Netto sat down and began to eat his breakfast.

"Morning…"

"Morning, dear. By the way, Saito… You sounded too strict back then. You shouldn't be so harsh to your brother!"

"Sorry, Mama. But my little brother won't do his duties unless he's reminded of them. I've been doing them non-stop ever since March and we're in December. He should be more responsible." Saito calmly told her with a slight hint of annoyance.

"Just don't push him too hard, right?"

"I'll try to."

"Not "try to"… Don't push him too hard." Haruka insisted.

"_Hai_~…"

"Heh!" Netto grinned.

"Don't get cocky. To begin with you gotta cleanse this whole ground floor while I take care of the garden. I'll be keeping an eye on you, Netto. Don't think you can sneak out so easily. We won't be done until the midday and no going out either. There's no point into it anyway."

"Che."

"Less complaining: wrap up and start by cleansing the kitchen. You gotta start behaving in a mature way."

09:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Go, Guts Man! Hyper Cannon!"

"Hyper Cannon, de guts!"

"No way! It blew up _again_!"

"Hah! No wonder, man! That thing's a sham which shames ya!"

"By all the… Aragoma Torakichi!"

"The same man!"

"Thought ya had gone off to Thailand!"

"Thailand? Never been outta Japan! I came to see how things look like and ya go there buying silly stuff which blows up!"

Ooyama Dekao had been trying to make Guts Man use what looked like a shoulder-mounted gigantic mortar when it blew up and knocked Guts Man out: Aragoma Torakichi suddenly popped out from behind him with a broad grin and Dekao growled.

"So ya set me up!" Dekao yelled.

"HUH? Me? What would I gain from that?" Aragoma asked.

"Laughing at the invincible great me~!" Dekao proclaimed.

"Invincible? Oh yeah? Didn't Hikari beat ya a billion times already?"

"Dunno what ya mean!" He tried to shove it away.

"Come on! If Hikari could bring down that "Witch – Queen of Angmar" back in August then ya stand no chance. Stop dreaming!"

"Dreaming? Hah! One day I'll be the world's strongest guy! And Netto will bow before me!" He boasted.

"You _baka_!" Aragoma cursed.

"_Baka_! Me! How dare ya!"

"I dare! You're so pathetic really! What about school? EH?"

"Who cares?" He shot back.

"Your parents should!"

"I'm Number One in the class!" Dekao boasted.

"No way. That little rich girl gotta be. She really is younger than ya but because she's so clever she was allowed to skip one or two years, ain't that right, Ooyama?" Aragoma didn't buy it.

"Shaddup!"

"Ya aren't my CO."

"I'll soon be!"

"Soon be… Lemme show you why those "soon be" will never come to happen! Go, King Man!"

"Net Battle, eh? Fine! Go, Guts Man! Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!" Dekao exclaimed.

"Come, Tower!"

"No way! He blocked it all!"

"Go, Rook! Horse!"

"Grah! Each one delivered 600 HP of damage! I've already lost half and haven't even scratched the guy!" Dekao gasped.

"Guts Hammer!"

"Go, Rook! Checkmate!"

"GATTSU~!" Guts Man yelped.

"Guts Ma~n!" Dekao yelled.

"I win! Total time: 28 seconds! Busting Level S!" Aragoma announced.

"NO WAY! YOU DAMNED GAME SHARK CODE USER!"

"Game Shark Code? I won square and fair! Now go back to your hole with the tail between the legs!"

"Halt! De masu!"

Higure suddenly forced them away by aiming his broom and mop at them while looking annoyed.

"Dekao – kun! He fought at his full strength, de masu! And you lost because you tried to win by pure random luck, de masu! That's not how Net Battles are won! De masu! You need strategy! De masu! Use your head, de masu!" Higure scolded him.

"Wha~t?" Dekao growled.

"You heard it the first time! De masu! Now go back home and think about it, de masu! Boasting is empty, de masu! Just be glad Netto – kun and the others still consider you their friend! De masu!"

"Damn it! I'll remember this, Aragoma! I'll find a powerful Battle Chip and beat ya to a pulp! My word!" Dekao growled.

"Hah! Dream on!"

Aragoma headed off while having both hands on his pockets and Dekao ran away while Higure headed back for the store.

"That was a noble act, Yamitarou. I'll commend you."

"Hah! I couldn't let such friendship be destroyed, de masu! They're young, de masu! Let them enjoy it! De masu!"

Dekao headed for his home but stopped on the outside to bang the wall in frustration.

"Damn it! I want power! If I had power then I could beat everyone and become the strongest! Power! At any cost!"

He headed inside of his house but did not spot an unidentified figure looking from behind some trees: an evil smile was drawn across its face and it looked amused.

_Power at any cost? That's easy to solve, brat. And it could be amusing to see the consequences… Besides they'll serve as good guinea-pigs for my new breed of "power"… Heh, heh, heh!_

09:48 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Did ya see the scandal Dekao formed out there, Meiru – chan? That guy won't learn! But here we are: thanks to my indoors heating-equipped bath we can kiss farewell to the winter and relax!"

"Really… I'm so grateful, Yaito – chan…"

"Come on! Girls help each other! Ya were so gloomy in August: and since Jasmine went back to Choina then I'm here to back ya up! By the way… Roll doesn't remember anything, right?"

"Yeah… I had her checked a week ago by a Science Labs staff lady but she confirmed it… And given how that villain is gone forever then we've got nothing to worry about…"

Ayanokouji Yaito and Sakurai Meiru were chatting as they bathed on a heated up square pool inside of Yaito's mansion: Yaito kept on using a floating ring with a duck's head and sported a pinkish one-piece swimming suit plus a straw hat: Meiru had a navy blue bathing suit on too and looked rather relieved while Yaito was grinning.

"I'm surprised ya brought the school's swimming club suit… Didn't you have something else?"

"Hum, no… And besides, I'm used to it anyway… Wouldn't you know? I visited that new store. The two boys in charge of it were very kind but Saito – kun's lookalike was more serious than his friend who kept on pulling trolls… They seem to cancel each other out!" She explained with a giggle.

"Guess I'll do an _unofficial_ visit there too. I wanna see if they handle it better than Higure – san over there. Did you know that the guy hates sharp things and thus uses either a mop or a broom as replacements for _katana_? He claims he'll beat those two to a broom fight."

"No way…" Meiru was skeptical by now.

"Way! Hikari – kun showed me a recording of their first fight! There, inventing "cool" names out of the blue! Tee, heh, heh!"

"Please… Why can't they be more serious?"

"Dunno!"

"Anyway… This was an intense first trimester! And I'm sure the 2nd one will be intense too. Yet… I suddenly feel like there's something in the air picking me…" Meiru trailed off.

"Ya think too much!" Yaito shrugged.

"Guess so. Sorry to abuse of your hospitality…"

"Come on! We're classmates. We gotta look after our appearance! Say: does Roll have a crush on Rock Man by now?"

"S-somewhat… But lately he's been so serious and all… Roll thinks it's still early…" Meiru admitted with a slight blush.

"And Hikari – kun? Too dense?" Yaito teased.

"Yeah. Totally. I tried to drop some hints last month but he didn't catch them up at all. I dunno if he's always thinking of Net Battles or something else. Anyway… That can wait too." She shrugged.

"Heh! Well! I'm sure that we could try testing the guy. Let's have him come one day and we'll see what happens. Tee, heh, heh!"

"Hmmm… Well… If you say so…" Meiru seemed to find it somewhat pointless.

"I just thought of a good motto! "Of brooms and mops goes the rebellious Higure – san!"… Tee, heh, heh!" Yaito giggled next.

"Please… That sounds so pointless, Yaito – chan!"

"Ya never know, Meiru – chan! _No pain no gain_! Let's have some strawberry milk next! Tee, heh, heh!"

"Come on… I don't see the point for that, really."

"You'll see it: my word!"

Yaito kept on giggling while Meiru sighed and made a smile…


	3. Chapter 3: Tunnel struggle

**Chapter 3: Tunnel struggle**

12:44 PM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 18th…

"… More pointless presentations… We can do your project at IPC for 45% of your proposed budget… Go codfish."

"Indeed, Enzan – sama."

"Anyway. Has something important happened?"

"Apart from the double crime reported in the news…"

"Yeah. Some gangsters' tale. No big deal."

"… then nothing else of great importance has been reported."

"Fine."

Ijuuin Enzan walked into his VP Office and sat down on the revolving chair behind the desk: he left a folder with some documents inside atop the desk and quickly began to work with the computer while looking bored and uninterested.

"Man. I really wanna go back to that Angband mole and try to tackle some of the SP Viruses still roaming in the yet unexplored tunnels… Some of them are very long and extend for kilometers! They haven't been explored past the first 500 meters so… That place sure was huge! I'm sure they spent all the time from March to August building it up." Enzan muttered as he barely repressed a yawn.

"True, Enzan – sama. Hmmm? The auto-phone, sir…"

"Me…"

"Mr. Barrel!"

"Got a little something for you… Black Doom's showed up in Angband breaking through the guards and running into Tunnel 33A… He doesn't seem to have come out but that's one of the kilometric tunnels. Would you care to go after the punk and slice them up while Zero makes his way there to settle the score?" Barrel told him.

"You've just made my morning. That punk's not weak and seems to have grown stronger ever since August… I was wishing for a strong opponent to show up, really! Let's go, Blues!"

"Roger, Enzan – sama!"

"Plug In! Blues, Transmission!"

"Come at the Science Labs HP: we built a high-speed line using fiber optics to get there…" Barrel commanded.

"Roger."

Blues stepped into the IPC Cyber World and rushed past the different levels: all doors were opened on his wake and the guards saluted before he ran outside and into the general Network: he cut through some shortcuts and reached the Science Labs' HP where the entrance to a high-speed route had been placed.

"Go on." Barrel encouraged.

Blues travelled across the tunnel and soon reached the other end: the area had a large mountain range located in the center of it with a huge octagonal pit easily ten meters wide opened close by and extended downwards to unfathomable depths: a glowing green spiraling staircase had been built on the walls of it plus a round elevator platform hovering over the center of it: several sealed pyramidal doorways opened on all eight sides of the shaft: some damaged Officials Navis could be spotted nearby as well as several red brick turrets emerging from the huge mountain: the "skies" were clouded and the whole area was filled with snow as well.

"Are you alright?" Blues asked.

"He came from that same tunnel… He didn't mind us… Jumped straight downwards…" One Navi reported.

"Where's tunnel 33A at?"

"Out of the 50 descending floors, the 33rd counting from here, ground level… The elevator will take you there in about 3 minutes…"

"Roger."

Blues jumped into the elevator and it formed a "Dream Aura" protective barrier before plunging downwards at a maddening speed: Blues looked around and sighed.

"It's been four months… Nothing's changed. This place's sense of dread and doom hasn't been destroyed… And I doubt it'll ever be. We gotta be careful: some unexpected surprises might be left in these unexplored kilometric tunnels… That's gotta be the reason that punk came here after all this time… He must've been waiting for us to lower the guard and break in easily…" Blues muttered.

"Obviously." Enzan shrugged.

"Hum. The elevator's speeding down… I must be close. There: that doorway has been blow up…"

The elevator halted in front of the western side of the shaft where one of the covers had been blown: a tunnel which seemed to have been excavated manually into the rock opened with some fluorescent lights proving illumination at intervals: Blues jumped inside and began to run it down while drawing his Long Blade.

"… Heh, heh, heh. So you came. Blues!" Black Doom's voice suddenly rang out.

"Black Doom! Show your hide!"

"Catch me firstly." He taunted.

"Damn you!"

"This is a game of cat-and-mouse. Like the one Shadow Man staged for you… Do you remember that?"

"I'm fed up with rubbish stuff! Fight!"

"Nope. I wanna see you struggle. _No pain no gain_!"

"Cool it down, Blues. Or else you'll fall into the enemy's trap. Advance! But be careful: I wouldn't be surprised if there's a trap." Enzan warned.

"Roger, Enzan – sama!"

"And there goes Indy's stunt." Black Doom announced.

"Indy's stunt?" Enzan frowned.

A sound rang out from the corridor's depths and Blues seemed to realize what it was: he suddenly drove his sword into the wall and cut an opening there: he rushed into the newly-created cavity just a gigantic boulder ran down the corridor past him and Blues head it drop into the spiral stairway to then roll down it.

"It'll blow up when it reaches the force field cutting floor BF50… Enough wasted time!" He muttered.

He rushed up the corridor and suddenly heard another one: he growled and repeated his earlier trick to escape unscratched.

"Did you really think there'd be just one?" Black Doom taunted.

"Hmpf! No little tricks are going to save your hide."

"Little tricks, you say? Well, I guess Stone Man was that type of jerk alright… This was made by him, see."

"Stone Man from the WWW… Whatever. We deleted the guy with Napalm Man's help back in August too. You're the only one left expect for Freeze Man but that's because Obihiro convinced him to abandon evil." Enzan calmly muttered.

"One day I'll have taste of your blood, Ijuuin Enzan!"

"Dream on. You won't get past me." Blues shot back.

"Then I'll have to call on Mr. Shoes."

"Mr. Shoes? Who the hell is that?"

"Your worst client." He replied with obvious amusement.

"We don't have a worst client." Enzan grumbled.

"Ah no? What about this morning's guy?"

"How could you know that?"

"Heh! You seem to have forgotten that my "original" was a Virus who could see and hear everything within the Cyber World! I've regained that ability!" Black Doom announced.

"So you've been spying on us and that's how you found out a good moment to slip back here…" Enzan was unimpressed.

"Ijuuin Hyouzan is so unimpressed."

"Hyouzan? I ain't an iceberg!" Enzan grumbled.

"Ironic! Ain't it? You have the "flame" _kanji_ in your name yet you're so dull and skeptical!" He taunted next.

"You bastard! Stop insulting my Lord. I'll have you swallow those foul words!" Blues growled.

"Try it, Clark Kent!"

"Clark Kent? Super Man's civilian ID?" Enzan grumbled.

"Coming! Indy's Stunt!"

"Damn it! This is the 5th one already! We'll never make it through this place at this rate!" Blues growled.

"Muwo~h! Eat this! Hah!"

"Huh? You're… Ground Man!"

"Sorry for the holdup: Mr. Barrel told us to come! There some splendid rocks to drill here, it'd seem!" Ground Man laughed.

"Che. An interloper showed up…" Black Doom fumed.

"You handle the rocks I handle the punk."

"My pleasure! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Let's go, Blues!"

"Roger, Enzan – sama!"

"Coming? Come! Hra~h!"

Ground Man ran on ahead just as another boulder ran down the corridor: he used his built-in drills to shatter it and picked some of the remains which he warped away: Blues followed him and they advanced through the winding corridor: Black Doom had suddenly fallen silent and the sound of boulders halted too: yet Blues noticed a loud breathing sound and immediately enough loud footsteps belonging to something _big_ rang out while the ground trembled and shook.

"Temperature's rising… Damn it! There's one of those things left around here!" Blues growled.

"Che!" Ground Man grumbled.

The footsteps began to grown in noise and a fiery glow began to come from further inside: the air began to distort due to the rising heat levels and most of the fluorescent lights began to melt and short-circuit thus plunging the area of the tunnel into pitch-black spots only illuminated by the approaching glow.

"Coming…!" Blues warned.

"Damn it." Dotarou cursed.

"… There they are… Like you thought, Ijuuin Enzan… A Balrog!"

A monstrous figure filling the width and height of the corridor showed up while flames burn on its body and carrying a large fiery whip: its mole projected a large shadow and filled the corridor with even higher heat which made both Blues and Ground Man feel sluggish.

"Damn it! The heat affects our performance!"

"So that's what the punk was after…! There was one of these kept in storage deeper inside of the tunnel and he's freed it. But we've battled enough of these to know their weakness… The head! They have a control unit coordinating their moves according to the control signal and if we break it then they're rendered unable to function."

"Allow me. _Nin_!"

"Shadow Man!"

Shadow Man suddenly formed in the air above the Balrog and drove his Muramasa Blade into the head of the monster: the Balrog growled and tried to hit Shadow Man with the left hand yet Shadow Man had leapt into the air to strike again: his blade sunk further this time.

"Distract him."

"Roger! Neo Variable Sword! Sonic Boom!"

"I'll have to pull back: my drills can't handle this heat!"

"It doesn't matter: we can handle this between both of us!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Festival, bloody festival! Finally! A though guy worth my time…! Oi! _Danna_! I'm gonna join the bloody festival too!"

"Killer Man. Good timing." Shadow Man welcomed.

"More interlopers!" Black Doom growled.

"Ground Man. Can you try to make a shortcut?" Blues asked.

"No big deal! Horra~h!"

Ground Man quickly excavated a secondary tunnel which formed the shape of the Alpabet "C" letter and both rushed through it as Shadow Man and Killer Man kept the Balrog busy.

"Killer Death Beam!"

"Shadow Blade!"

Blues and Ground Man soon ran into a cavern having several gigantic steel crates set in a row: one of them was open and it was obvious that each of them contained a Balrog: Black Doom was walking atop them and attaching some devices to the top of each crate as he hummed what sounded like a heavy metal tune.

"Alright. Setup complete… I can now bring these with me."

"Where to?" Blues demanded.

"What! But the Balrog's still alive!"

"Ever heard of shortcuts?" Enzan smugly taunted.

"Damn it. I hadn't thought of that!"

"So! Who wants those things?"

"The R – Nation!" He proudly announced.

"The R – Nation! That militaristic nation who has a network of illegal armed satellites aiming for major nations…? The ones Wily intended to hijack during his attempt to use the Dream Virus…!" Enzan gasped.

"Hmpf… I expected it from them… They're desperate for a new weapon after the satellites have been rendered useless by a virus and placed into new orbits which will make them drag against the atmosphere to then burn up there…" Barrel muttered.

"Yeah! And they're gonna give me a load of money in exchange! With that I can build my own army and I'll recreate the glory of Angband! Mwa, hah, hah! Long live the spirit of the "Witch – Queen of Angmar", the Mistress who gave me life!" He exclaimed.

"That ambition ends here and now!" Blues exclaimed.

"Hmmm… There are 12 crates… I said I'd bring "some" and we didn't agree to a set number so I can do _this_."

He jumped into the crate next to the open one and interacted with a control panel: the crate hissed and unlocked as a new Balrog came out and immediately turned into flames while drawing the whip: all of the other crates began to be warped away while Black Doom laughed in a victorious tone of voice.

"Damn it! We must trace their signal!"

"No good. It's heavily encoded." Barrel cursed.

"Fuck." Enzan scowled.

"Grwra~h!"

"Shut up." Blues growled.

"Damn it." Ground Man cursed.

"Rolling Slasher!"

Something suddenly hit the face of the second Balrog and the impact stunned him as Slash Man landed atop his head and began to plunge his claws into the head from above: Blues wasted no time and jumped into the air too.

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In! Dream Sword! Go, Blues!"

"Dream Sword!"

Blues drove the Dream Sword into the head of the monster and it growled as the flames were put out and its eyes lost life to them: the giant lost balance and collapsed into the ground with a loud sound: another rang out from the corridor to signal that both Shadow Man and Killer Man had finished with the other one.

"We won… Somehow." Blues grimly muttered.

"But they got away with their goal too." Enzan cursed.

"We aren't all-perfect." Barrel reminded them.

"True, yet… Sometimes…"

"Ijuuin Enzan. I'm not perfect and you aren't either. We have no time to weep on what's already happened. Withdraw and return to the Science Labs for examination." Barrel ordered.

"Roger. Return, Blues."

"Come back, Shadow Man."

"_Nin_!"

"Killer Man…"

"Nyah, hah, hah! That was exciting!"

"Yo! Ground Man. Let's head back!"

"Ou!"

The four Navis pulled back and reached the shaft where the lift was waiting for them: it climbed upwards towards the surface and they stepped into solid ground.

"We'll have to place some defenses and seal up the shaft but we should also try to explore other tunnels to see if we can find these depots and impede Black Doom of coming back for more of them."

"Obviously…" Shadow Man shrugged.

"Hyah, hah, hah! Let the punk come! I'll kill 'im!"

"I'll ground 'im!"

"Hmpf…" Blues was unimpressed.

They failed to spot a figure looking at them from inside one of the turrets looking into the shaft.

"Boss… It's me, O… Black Doom showed up and stole 10 Balrogs which hadn't taken part in the final battle to sell them to the R – Nation… It'd seem there are some tunnels pending exploring given their length and the low available forces…" The figure whispered.

"Oh lovely. The last thing we needed! Yesterday I almost got killed by that bomb-rigged car, we found that double murder and today we have this! Damn it! The "Common Patterns" and the R – Nation… I'm sure they're on a league!" The voice of "Mr. Sponsor" growled over a radio.

"Sure thing…" The figure agreed on it.

"Pull back, O… We don't wall to call the attention yet. I'd prefer not to get in their way even though we have the same enemy… Those bastards are soon gonna tremble when they find themselves to be at the receiving end of my anger!" "Mr. Sponsor" hissed next.

"Obviously… Those guys won't get away with it. Let's get on the move and locate them… For justice!"


	4. Chapter 4: Rampaging

**Chapter 4: Rampaging**

16:46 PM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 18th…

"… Fua~h… I'm - WORN OUT!"

"Hmpf."

"Saito, dear!"

"Sorry."

"Is something wrong with you? I can't believe you'd turn from so sweet and nice to this self-centered attitude!"

"No. There's nothing wrong, Mama. I'm just growing up."

"Even so! Driving Netto so madly and only giving him 20 minutes to have his lunch… You've kept him going up and down the whole morning! That's too much even if you handled the gardening part…"

"He needed a lesson. He's been too selfish. Who's the one who has gone through countless perils ever since April 2004?"

"Wrong place wrong time! It wasn't my fault!"

"How lame."

"Saito, dear! Enough!"

"Sorry."

"Something's really wrong with you. You're getting obsessed with the household chores as if they were the most important thing in the world but that's not it."

"My marks are excellent."

"That's not it, either! You used to be so social and now you're closing in yourself… What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"I'm home!"

"Oh! Yuuichirou – san! What a surprise!"

Netto had been lying on the sofa while looking beaten: Saito was standing nearby and looking indifferent while Haruka started to look annoyed at his behavior: just at that moment Yuuichirou came in.

"Yeah, I know. They counseled me to take some days off. What's with the atmosphere? It feels like there's been a fight."

"Saito is acting strangely, Yuuichirou – san. He's been pushing Netto all day long almost without break to have him take care of almost all household chores while he took care of the gardening. He's been ill-humored the whole day and now he won't admit it but something's wrong with him: I can feel it." Haruka explained.

"Hum. Saito. Come with me to my workspace… We need to have a serious talk which I've kept on postponing." Yuuichirou seemed to have been expecting it.

"… Alright."

Saito followed Yuuichirou to an office in the first floor filled with papers and folders: he stood in front of the desk while Yuuichirou sat down and adjusted his glasses with a sigh.

"You're jealous of Netto, right?"

"… Yeah." He admitted.

"You feel out of place here, in the real world, given how we eat and such while you have no need for that… You'd like to be like him. That's why you've been building up this frustration and now you want Netto to be on the receiving end of it. That won't do, Saito. You're brothers. You must protect your bond."

"… I know, but… He's never said "sorry" for all the messes and life-threatening spots I've ended up at… And he always acts so lazily and like he has no sense of responsibility…" Saito argued back.

"Ah. Then there's a motive for that yet… Netto might be behaving by the usual tendency that it is the housewife who takes care of the house."

"There's a tendency?"

"There's been for a very long time. He takes that for granted: it's a rather sexist thing carried down from past ages."

"But butlers…"

"Butlers are another tale: they are people outside of the family who are sworn to serve them… And in truth butlers only take care of certain things and it's usually the maids the ones who do the jobs of cleansing… But the butler also does it if he's the only one too… Well. So as to not to spend the whole day… Netto is not being arrogant but he goes by observing the world around him…" Yuuichirou explained to him.

"Ah… So that's why…" Saito muttered.

"Of course that in the Cyber World none of those matter… You've been living there for the best part of 6 years so it's obvious that you have a different point of view…"

"… But…"

"But?"

"… Nothing." Saito avoided eye contact.

"You're hiding something, Saito. It's rude not to look at someone while speaking." Yuuichirou scolded.

"It's nothing." He insisted.

"I decide that. Are you jealous of something else? Or are you being envious of something?" Yuuichirou questioned.

"… Two-party-deal…" He muttered in a barely audible voice.

"Huh? Two-party-deal? What. He's going out with Meiru – chan and you feel jealous?"

"Huh? Meiru – chan? Huh, no… She's unrelated." Saito looked up and sounded surprised.

"Then I don't get it. Elucidate."

"Eh… Did I say something aloud?"

"So you weren't intending to say it aloud. Is that the origin of your frustration?" Yuuichirou asked next.

"More or less… Eh… If I tell you… You won't exile me, right?"

"Exile you? Why should I do that?" Yuuichirou was surprised.

"B-because we did something we shouldn't have done…!"

"Something you shouldn't have done?"

"… No, I can't continue." He suddenly muttered.

"If you don't tell me the source of that bad mood then we're no closer to solving it. Well. Let's settle it here for today. I'll speak with Netto next but don't be so brusque to him. I don't want kin-strife in this house. Am I clear enough, Saito?" Yuuichirou warned.

"It wasn't my intention to start such a thing."

"I know that. But it's better to warn than to heal."

"Alright…"

Saito headed out and Netto came in soon enough.

"Netto. Saito's just frustrated because he feels out of place in the real world… Remember that as human he may look he's still a Net Navi. The concepts of eating and personal hygiene are alien to him and he doesn't understand the need for them. By the way… You surely see that everywhere that it is girls or women who take care of the household chores, am I right?" Yuuichirou asked.

"Yeah… That's why I thought I wasn't supposed to do them."

"Well. There's no law saying anything about that but that's a bad habit passed down from older generations… Saito doesn't know that and sees you as a lazy man who won't mind his duties… Hence why he was so stubborn today…"

"Oh. So that's why…"

"But if there's something I agree with him is that you've never apologized properly for all the trouble he met… But I guess you don't need to include him being trapped in Proto for months or his reckless decision to compress and install upon him the unpowered form of Greiga… Those were his decisions. I can't blame you for that with Magic Man which was when I finally disclosed the truth to you… But I guess the list is large: think about it and then apologize properly and long to Saito."

"Yeah… Gotcha…"

"Hold on. Saito muttered something about a "two-party-deal" which seems to be another source of his frustration… Care to elucidate? Or you don't feel like telling me either?"

"Two-party-deal? Does he mean my visits to Shirakami?"

"You visit him?"

"Well… Why not? They helped us out in the summer, didn't they? And their Battle Chip store is totally legal." Netto exposed.

"True. I won't deny that. So he turns paranoid that you might be trying to replace him by Shirakami?"

"Well… Guess it sometimes looks like that… But Shirakami has Copy Forte as his companion and they get along nice so…"

"Yet he seemed to hint that you'd done something bad and he even feared I'd exile him for that… It can't be that he's been having brawls with Shirakami because he dislikes fighting and only fights when he's got no other way around it." Yuuichirou argued.

"Well. That's…" Netto trailed off.

"… Hum. I think I'm getting the idea… You've been doing _incest_. Am I correct, Netto?"

"Incest? Is that how they call it? I had no idea…" He blushed.

"Well. I don't see much of a trouble with it if both of you agreed to do that and you feel like it… This is not an age of prejudices and persecution."

"S-sorry. But ever since March when I had to help Saito – niisan change I began to feel different about him… And in August it'd seem something on me was triggered…" Netto timidly admitted.

"So that's why you were starting to make questions like what semen was about… It's totally normal: that's called "puberty" and both sexes go through it starting at this age… You awaken new senses."

"S-so you're not mad at us for that?"

"No. Yet I'm surprised you'd go so far with Shirakami."

"That's… In truth he's the one who was thinking about me but he was too timid to do anything or mention it to anyone at all… He was always backing off and such so I guess I got stubborn there… I thought I could make him feel less repressed and such…" Netto described.

"Ah. Well. You make your choices in life and I won't interfere in those: but do remember to apologize to Saito." Yuuichirou commanded.

"I know."

"… Netto~! The PET!" Haruka called out.

"The PET's ringing…? Coming!"

Netto headed down to the living room and picked the PET: Barrel showed up onscreen.

"Been a while, Hikari Netto…"

"Barrel – san!"

"A rampaging Navi has been detected in Akihara Area 3… The others are busy elsewhere and you're the closest man to the scene so… Your mission is to ID them and weaken them to then be brought to the Science Labs for analysis and repairs…" Barrel instructed.

"Roger! Oi! Saito – niisan! Did you hear that? Where are you?"

"Gardening." Saito came back in from the outside while having a brownish coat and a pair of gardener's scissors.

"Did you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Rock Man."

"Huh! Barrel – san!"

"Sorry to interrupt you. But we've got a rampaging Navi and you're the closest man to the scene... I need you to tag with your Operator and tackle the Navi to capture them. Can you do it?" Barrel asked.

"R-roger!"

"Fine. Akihara Area 3. And don't take too long: the area's being wrecked and the sensors aren't working."

"Roger!"

The line went off and both rushed upstairs: Saito clasped his hands together and aimed them at the PC's IR port.

"Plug In!"

He transmitted himself into the Cyber World and immediately put on his bodysuit and helmet thus becoming Rock Man EXE again: he drew the Rock Buster and checked its functionality.

"Let's go, Rock Man! Sorry for the trouble but…" Netto told him.

"It's a job. Let's go." Rock Man shrugged it off.

"Roger!"

They rushed across the greatly damaged Akihara Area 1 and Akihara Area 2 before rushing into Akihara Area 3: they spotted a purplish mass of energy surrounding a Navi whose frame was hidden: the rampaging Navi was trying to beat down a barrier set on the road leading to Oran Island Area 1.

"Stop! Halt!"

"Gruwrgh… Don't get… in the way…!" A guttural voice growled.

"Wake up! You're rampaging!"

"Rampaging, you call this? No! I'm unleashing my true power! This time I'll defeat you!" The Navi growled.

"This time…? We've met before? Nebula?"

"Nebula? I don't know what that is and I couldn't care less! My sole goal is destruction: the releasing of my true and total power! Rock Man! Be deleted without protest! Dark Punch!"

A large punch colored purple but having a familiar design flew towards Rock Man who jumped over it and shot a Charge Shot at the enemy yet the purplish energy deflected it: a mocking chuckle rang out and the enemy suddenly leapt into the air to kick him on the face and propel Rock Man to the ground: he landed atop him and pinned him into the floor while leaning the right foot over his neck and the left one over his chest emblem as he banged on his helmet with both hands.

"Oh! Damn it! Program Advance! Mega Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon 3! Go!" Netto cursed.

"Guo~h! Getting desperate, huh!"

The Giga Cannon's powerful output attack did manage to push the attacker backwards and he growled: Rock Man coughed and tried to roll across the floor to stand up yet his balance was weak.

"Now you die!"

"I don't agree. Vaccine Chip, Shoot!"

"Muwro~h!"

"That voice…!"

Rock Man gasped and spotted a Navi behind the enemy: it was a normal model Navi colored black and golden plus having a customized buster weapon drawn.

"Kanou – san's Net Navi… He doesn't have a personality because it's a walking surveillance device…" Rock Man muttered.

"Muwo~h! Guo~h… Gu… Ga… Gat… Gattsu… Guts…!"

"Huh? What! It couldn't be!"

The purple energy began to be destroyed and it was revealed that Guts Man was the attacker: his body was glowing with a halo shining with all colors of the rainbow before he collapsed.

"Guts Man! You're not gonna tell me he used a "Dark Chip"…!"

"But that was different from a "Dark Chip"… A single "Dark Chip" shouldn't rewrite his personality file, right?" Netto frowned.

"True. I'm now ringing at Mr. Ooyama's door to try to find out what he's been up to." Kanou Shade admitted.

"Who the heck! Huh? Higureya's mister?"

"Kanou Shade, Mr. Ooyama. Haven't you been looking after your Net Navi lately?"

"No. I gave him the program Higure – san gave me and waited for the installation to happen. In the meanwhile I killed the time watching _The Mean Guys_ for the 3rd time…" Dekao admitted.

"What program?" He questioned.

"Dunno! I found an envelope with a CD inside of it and a letter by Higure – san saying that if I gave it to Guts Man then he'd become stronger! But it looked like it was gonna take forever so…" He shrugged.

"Show them to me."Kanou Shade commanded.

"Why?"

"Your Net Navi has gone rampaging, tried to delete Rock Man and inflicted damage to the Network for an estimated value of 75,500Z!" He listed in a rush with obvious annoyance.

"NO WAY!"

"Check your PET! And see by your own eyes the mess you've started up, Mr. Ooyama!"

"Guts Man! What happened? What have you done?"

"Uh, Dekao – sama, guts… Guts Man can't remember… Dekao – sama said he was gonna give Guts Man a program, guts, and then I suddenly blacked out, guts…" Guts Man admitted.

"Hum! "Dekao – kun, I saw this morning's battle and thinking about it, you looked poor and such, de masu. So I thought I'd give you a little hand with this program I made up, de masu. Install it into Guts Man and he'll surely become a bit stronger, de masu. But that won't be enough to make you win, de masu! USE THE HEAD, DE MASU! Higure Yamitarou, the mop and broom _samurai_." … Hmpf… Pretty good falsification… Let's see this CD's content… One executable file measuring 250MB… Last edited: 8 days ago around 21 hours yet we don't know if it was here on Japan… I must take this to the Science Labs for further analysis. You've been fooled into becoming a guinea-pig for some new type of program which seems to contain "Dark Power"…" Kanou Shade read the letter and then studied the CD's contents.

"But who could do that?" Netto frowned.

"Black Doom?" Rock Man offered.

"Could be part of a deal with the R – Nation… He's been to Angband today and picked 10 sleeping Balrogs…"

"10 Balrogs!" Both gasped.

"Next time ask the sender if they sent this, Mr. Ooyama. Be ready because they'll most likely charge you with irresponsibility and will be commanded to dedicate several hours to the repair works… Goodbye."

"No way!"

"Dekao…!" Netto exasperatedly grumbled.

"Poor Guts Man, he got dragged into it… He's not to blame: if only Dekao – kun bothered to use the head when fighting…" Rock Man sighed.

_I won't forgive those who hurt my friends! As long as I'm named Rock Man I'll chase you to the world's end if needed!_


	5. Chapter 5: Dissatisfaction

**Chapter 5: Dissatisfaction**

18:58 PM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 18th…

"… Doctor T… Was that program…?"

"An improvement over "Dark Chips", indeed."

"I see. And that program modifies the personality of the Navi according to their memories and such… It even provides IQ boost in some cases… Intriguing, Doctor T…"

"Thanks for the compliments, Black Doom. But don't worry: that's just something to keep their hands tied… I've thought of a strategy to help distribute this en masse and stir up chaos and confusion…"

"Always a hundred steps ahead… As expected of Doctor T…"

Black Doom was kneeling in front of the armchair where the enigmatic "Doctor T" was sitting at: the man sounded amused and Black Doom sounded fascinated.

"Regarding the Balrogs they're on the 4th Server being installed with the "Booster System"…" He reported.

"Good. When is the installation going to be complete?"

"In about 12 minutes…"

"Excellent. Remember: we'll sell the duplicates _without_ the "Booster System" to the R – Nation and you'll be representative of your own businesses. Tell them that if they let this chance slip them by then they're never going to catch up with the Z – Nation. _That_ will be more than enough to incite them…" "Doctor T" grinned.

"Brilliant. And thus my words will become reality and they will not doubt my intelligence anymore… While Doctor T remains totally hidden behind the curtain and those guys go beating around the bush in vain…"

"That's exactly what it means, Black Doom."

"Long live to Doctor T!"

19:37 PM (Japan Time)…

"… From the initial analyses of Guts Man's body and of the program using a Navi frame with another Navi in standby to shoot the "Vaccine Chip" at it so as to avoid futher rampage… This program installs itself in the core of the Navi and reads all of its memory and personality files. It has a search engine which makes it pick up certain tags… Frustration, sadness, anger, hatred, fear… All negative tags are picked up and then they are weighted so that one or more emotions will be fueled up with the Navi's HP _doubles_ and their attacking power _doubles_ as well…"

"How terrific!"

"And there's no doubt that the very core of it is "Dark Power" yet it's more complex than a "Dark Chip"…"

"Hmpf… Black Doom hasn't been idle."

Netto, Saito, Enzan, Laika and Barrel were speaking with Yuuichirou inside of his laboratory as he disclosed the results to them: Laika and Barrel had yet to comment anything about it.

"Hmmm… I'd rather say his R – Nation collaborators…" Barrel rubbed his chin and looked thoughtful.

"Excuse me." Dark Miyabi announced as he stepped in.

"Miyabi. So?"

"We just spotted the exchange."

"So it was true." Barrel cursed.

"No doubt. We heard one of them saying "the bosses were smart when they decided to make a pact with ya"… And the guy seemed to find it amusing that they'd begun to trust his word…"

"So the guy sold them the Balrogs? The 10 of them?" Netto asked.

"Yeah. The same 10 crates he dragged out in front of our very noses indeed… There was no mistake that the things were inside given the pressure they gave off…" Shadow Man confirmed.

"Heck. And now they have their hands in those things and will surely find a way to strengthen them or duplicate them into the hundreds or the thousands!" Enzan growled.

"Truly worrisome." Blues admitted.

"And our hands are tied too. This is outside Japan's borders. No – one dares to provoke the R – Nation even though they're under UN sanctioning… And things can get worse: the Z – Nation might try to get their hands on those and a conflict between each other may be triggered for all we know." Barrel warned.

"Damn it! If the guy had been deleted back then… We wouldn't be having such headaches!" Netto banged the table with both fists.

"No use crying over spilled milk." Barrel told them.

"I know! But one feels so… powerless!"

"It's not that you're powerless as in power per se but powerless when it comes to acting…" Barrel corrected.

"You're right, Barrel – san, but… Ah! Whatever! Sorry. I'm going to the restroom: I need to wash my face for a min."

"Alright."

Netto headed out of the room and Saito seemed to direct a suspicious glare at him yet Yuuichirou cleared his throat and Saito snapped out of it to resume looking forward.

"We'll be trying to find any information of the system in which this program was made but I don't expect to find much… What's obvious is that it was written into this CD from a computer… And they might try to spread it around somehow… Maybe they'll target key infrastructures and the military… We must be careful with our own CDs and label them properly with our own handwriting." Yuuichirou warned.

"I understand. I'll try to install antibodies programs in IPC's intra network to prevent infection. We're an important company so I wouldn't be surprised if they target us next."

"Speaking of targeting companies… I heard that there was a bomb-rigged car terrorist incident which had no casualties given how the bomb went off ahead of time and the area was sparsely populated… It'd seem they were targeting the head of a major foreign company and that the organizers were some nasty company backed up by loan sharks who were seeing their unfair businesses cracked down by the big company… That was in Yokohama…" Meijin recalled.

"Hmmm… It might be worth my time looking it up."

"But the investigation is already closed."

"What? Already?" Barrel asked.

"The man who set the bomb and the one who staged this were both found dead in a grim manner… And it'd seem the money was a new type of fake which was very hard to detect… From what I heard there was a struggle… I'm sure there are details elsewhere but the whole thing was rather grim…" Meijin explained.

"Hmmm… Too _convenient_… I'll go speak with the police: I have a contact there who owes me one and he'll pay back by telling me what they've found out… Later."

Barrel came out as Netto came back in while humming a tune: Saito looked slightly suspicious of him but Yuuichirou cleared his throat so he snapped out of it.

"I see you distracted, Rock Man." Enzan told him.

"Call me Saito."

"Hikari Saito, then. I can taste tension in the air. Care to elucidate?"

"… I just think that we've been too lazy and we should've tried to put some more energy into chasing Black Doom."

"It can't be helped: you had to concentrate on the start of middle school after all." Yuuichirou told him.

"Well… Yeah, but…"

"Besides… All of us were trying to spot him but he's obviously been outside of the country for a while if we couldn't detect him even in the foulest of areas." Laika reminded him.

"Like Laika – sama said…"

"Look: it's late on the evening and we're not fresh either so let's go home and rest: we'll find a way to tackle this thing."

"Roger."

The four of them disbanded with Laika and Enzan leaving together while Saito kept on having that unimpressed face as he followed Netto at about two meters' distance: they reached the Metro Station and picked a spot in the queue to buy tickets.

"So?" Saito finally asked.

"So… What?"

"You know."

"… I haven't had time to properly think about it, but you're right that I should've apologized time ago…" Netto admitted.

"Hmpf… At least we're getting somewhere, _otouto_."

"Come on! Don't start to try to imitate Blues: he was designed to be hostile and serious in battle!" Netto groaned.

"My bad."

They reached the vending machine and Netto picked two tickets so he gave one to Saito: they didn't notice an unidentified figure following them and having a grin on its face.

_Hah! My little experiment has had a success and now I see that they are not united… What better opportunity to strike but now? Yet I mustn't fall for the temptation! Rushing in would make all of my devices be pointless to begin with. Hmmm… Let's leave it to one of the Admin guys to start a little ruckus of their own and try to make them focus there while I slip inside through the backdoor… Heh, heh, heh!_

19:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! As you can see, Barrel… It's quite straightforward. The suicide letter was written on the spot when McEdelson realized that the money was false and that he had no place to run to… The pen was his and we've got witnesses who can affirm that he used it often and the handwriting was his style… His prints were on the _katana_ too…"

"Hum. I see… Rather gross stuff yet… It seems _too convenient_… Murder plus suicide… That's unusual."

"Less work for us… The thing's gonna be archived soon enough."

"I think we're walking into a big mistake."

"Big mistake? I don't think so: we've found plenty of recorded calls on the other man's cell phone with the guys who started it up there on Kentucky which we've handed to the FBI: they wanted solid proof to be able to round those guys up."

"The FBI, huh… Alright. You've been helpful to me, Unoda, so I'll thank you for this. I'll be going."

Barrel had been talking with a policeman inside of the police station which was rather busy despite the hour: people went up and down the corridors and there was constant chatter in the background.

"… Oi, Unoda! That gentleman from the morning is back: he wants to speak with you!" Another policeman popped his head into the small cubicle office.

"Let him in."

"I'll be going."

"See ya."

Barrel came out and crossed paths with the man named "Mr. Sponsor" yet he was too concentrated to notice him yet "Mr. Sponsor" seemed to recognize him.

_Ameroupe Army Network Troop Captain General Commander Barrel…?_

He entered the office and sat down on the chair while Unoda finished a phone call with someone.

"… For the last time: no hotel guests having windows looking into the rear yard saw or heard anything?"

"Mr. Officer, it was obvious! The rooms were empty at that time: everyone was out! Only the restaurant staff and reception staff were in at that time. The guest in Room 204 had told us to expect the man who came in at that time so we didn't think much of it until that shot rang out! We called you gentlemen immediately afterwards but by the time you got there the guest of Room 204 lay dead in the yard!" Someone replied in an obviously exasperated tone of voice.

"Alright, alright… No need to yell, thanks. Goodbye. Sorry for the delay, _Danna_…"

"Just call me Zataki Tosho. Well then… Have you made any progress in the investigation?" The man asked.

"It's closed. There you have the full report."

"Let's see… Hum… Pretty gross, true… The guys we suspected of… Their involvement confirmed… What? McEdelson actually went and wrote a suicide letter on the spot before driving the _katana_ through him? I didn't know of that! The money was false so he got desperate…? Hum… Feels weird, really…" Zataki Tosho muttered as he read through it.

"Feels weird, I know… But it's as clear as water."

"… Alright."

"Funny coincidence… A friend of mine was also finding the whole ordeal to be too straightforward as well… Maybe you crossed paths there in the corridor: the guy with the brownish jacket…"

"Is that so? Maybe we're just happening to dance to the tune of someone with a lot of cold blood and capacity to improvise upon the spot. When there's so much money involved things can turn ugly…"

"So you're saying things happened differently?"

"It's a hunch. I know I have no evidence yet that of the suicide feels somewhat weird to me… Where did the _katana_ come out from anyway, if I may know?"

"No big mistery! The older man had had it for 30 years: he bought it at an auction in London… We confirmed it with London. He's been there often and the last time he bought an expensive porcelain vase which we found in his apartment… The older man was the chief of an informatics consulting company…" Unoda read from a file.

"Name?"

"Akuo Menioshita. 57. From Hokkaido…"

"Did you find out anything about McEdelson?"

"Our colleagues in Kyushu told us about the guy: he murdered another in a bar brawl and got five years in prison. Back then he was named Mike Brand… 38, from Kyushu… Foreign parents… Both deceased."

"I see. We didn't do enough of a background check… We were just glad to have a replacement for the usual driver who got ill after going mushroom-hunting and eating one which wasn't in a good state…" Zataki muttered as if reflecting upon their mistake.

"These things happen. No – one's perfect, Zataki – san."

"Well… Thank for your help. I'm going back. And I don't need police escort: I think that those idiots have enough intelligence to know that it's impossible to pull the same trick twice."

"Yeah. Good luck."

Zataki came out into the street and took out a cell phone from his breast pocket which he turned on: he dialed a number and waited for the call to connect as he sat on a nearby bench.

"Me… How it's going?" He asked someone.

"Well. _Shachou_. From what I've found out insofar… McEdelson was fired from his latest job a month ago: attendant at a gas station. Know why?"

"He got into a brawl."

"The guy smoked there."

"By all the… He had to be dumb or suicidal: he could've easily blown the whole place apart!" Zataki cursed.

"I know. He's been spotted in several spots and gets into debts with more than one loan shark: then he goes underground and he gets called to fill as the replacement driver for Mr. Admin… We know the rest. He behaved pretty well but that must've been someone keeping tabs on him…"

"Where did you find this info, O?"

"Huh? Where? The Reverse Square, obviously enough… He'd posted there with the alias "McGreggor" but it was obvious that it was him after some good IP tracing and ISP lookup…" The person on the receiving end of the line admitted.

"I see."

"Where are you, _Shachou_?"

"Where else? I've just come out of the police station."

"Did they find where McEdelson went to?"

"He killed himself when he realized the money was false… Wrote a suicide letter and used the messenger's _katana_…"

"Yikes. That's gross."

"I know. But something's bugging me and I won't be at ease until I can find a way to discern it… I'm heading to the house: I want to stay disconnected for a while but call me if something important shows up like another rampaging incident… Try to figure out if there's a way to stop that program or what. Counting on you, O. If you feel like it's too much for you to handle call on BS and S." Zataki commanded as he sighed.

"You should really have some sleep: you've been awakened 24 hours straight and I'm surprised you haven't collapsed yet. Go to the house and rest for a while, _Shachou_. We'll handle it."

"Alright… Later."

"Later."

Zataki pocketed the cell phone and barely repressed a yawn as he rubbed his eyes and headed for a vending machine: he bought a bottle of cold water and drank some.

"Too perfect. Too perfect! It's too perfect, too straightforward! Real terrorist incidents are more complicated. No… Something had to go wrong yet someone stepped in and with terrific cold blood changed everything so that the police would find a straightforward situation and don't dedicate much time to the whole business… Besides, does the head of a small informatics consulting company really make so much money to afford going to London once per year? Well… That could be. But buying expensive Asian genuine items is another talk. That man was more than it seems… And it'd seem former Commander Barrel is also thinking along the same lines even though it doesn't involve his duties as ONBA advisor. Well. I don't mind." He mumbled aloud.

He headed down the streets while being thoughtful: however, he did not see Dark Miyabi's figure standing in the police station's rooftop and looking towards the street.

"Interesting… This business with the bomb-rigged car seems to be deeper than it'd seem… And if one of them was from Kyushu then I can find clues there too… Shadow Man!" He muttered before commanding.

"My Master."

"We've got something to look up… My curiosity has been picked! Let's go…"

"Roger."

Dark Miyabi leapt into the street and quickly zigzagged across them to head somewhere.

_There's a conspiracy going on… And I won't be satisfied until I've checked if it involves us or not!_


	6. Chapter 6: Katana and sword

**Chapter 6: **_**Katana**_** and sword**

10:10 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 19th…

"… Yo! Shi – chan! Wake up!"

"Stop with the nicknames and don't piss me off first thing in a Sunday morning! Forte!"

"Copy Forte, if I may remind you, Watson."

"Don't screw me!"

"For a guy around 12 years old you have some strong language."

"And what if! Tell that to the _manga_ and _anime_ guys!"

"My, my."

"No "my, my" either! Be serious!"

"Alright…"

Forte, the "Ultimate Net Navi", had been knocking into a door somewhere in the real world: he looked slightly different given how he didn't have his usual brown ragged cloak on and that his eyes displayed both amusement and intelligence: a voice which sounded similar to Saito's rang out from inside of the closed door and "Copy" Forte smiled.

"Shira – chan got annoyed?"

"Damn it! How many times do we have to go over this?"

"Shiraka – chan wants a candy?"

"Shaddup."

"Shirakami – chan will challenge Higure – san to a mop and broom duel next time around?"

"Fuck, no. I'm not taking part into those imbecile things."

"Then call Hikari over and play "softcore"…"

"Shut up."

"Are you using make-up today?"

SLAM!

"Ow! My nose!"

"You were asking for it."

A guy having red eye irises and messy jet black hair (which looked like an imitation of Netto's own hair) came out of the room by slamming the door open and hitting the nose of "Copy" Forte.

He wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, jeans and white sneaker.

He was a meter and fifty four tall and now looked pretty annoyed.

"Jeez. Why can't you take in some humor?"

"Humor is vain and hollow. If you want to succeed in life stay serious and be conscious of your responsibilities and duties."

"I think you're having too much of a dry look to the world…"

"Dry look? Hah. That's how the world is!"

"You really can understand the whole of it, Shirakami?"

"I'm a Net Navi: of course I can!"

"But maybe you've focused too much in one particular spot and ignored the others? It's not good to so dry and hostile, really… You should have some soft spot… Well! You already have with Hikari but…"

"What goes on between Netto – kun and me is our stuff. You shouldn't butt your nose in that." The guy named Shirakami replied.

"Fine, fine…"

"And what's the rush? Todays' a Sunday. No – one's coming."

"DE MASU~! Show up, de masu! Higure Yamitarou has come to settle the feud once and for all, de masu!"

"You gotta be kidding me." Shirakami groaned.

"Oho. Let's go see."

Both came out into the main room of a Battle Chip store and heard someone bang against the lower shutter from the outside: "Copy" Forte grinned and turned on a monitor showing CCTV camera feed and one did display Higure dressed with a _yukata_ and carrying both mop and broom plus a white bandana with the red words _zettai kachi_ (absolute victory) written on it.

"De masu~! Open it up!"

"Yamitarou! Everyone's napping…" Number Man argued.

"No! Make no mistake! De masu! They're there! De masu! My Higure Yamitarou Instinct tells me that! De masu!"

"You've made that up on the spot." Number Man groaned.

"Come out if you have the manly bravery! De masu!"

"Copy" Forte giggled and turned on the shutter's engine to lift it up: he then unlocked the automatic sliding door and Higure jumped in while aiming both mop and broom at him.

"The time foreseen by the seers has come! De masu!"

"The Seer of Math?" He joked.

"That's right, de masu!"

"No way…" Shirakami groaned.

"Yo! Weapons-bearer: bring forth the mop and the broom!"

"Go fetch them yourself you lazy ass."

"My, my."

"Copy" Forte rushed to a nearby closet and took out their mop and broom which he showed to Higure as they got into fighting poses.

"Good morning. I'm the witness for the duel."

"Oh. Mr. Shade…"

Kanou Shade stepped in at a leisurely pace while having a broad smile on his face: Shirakami kept on looking annoyed and skeptical about the whole ordeal.

"Ya~h! De masu! Squashing Broom! Flying Mop! De masu!"

"Well then… Hora~h! Landing Running Taxiing Broom! Lifting Rolling Orbiting Mop! Let's go~!"

Both began to swing both mop and broom around like they were _samurai_ warriors: Shirakami slapped his face in defeat and looked like he was building up exasperation.

"You idiots!" He growled.

"Dropping Killing Mop! De masu! Climbing Living Broom! De masu! Higure Yamitarou will prove himself to be a worthy man of Mariko – sensei's admiration, de masu!"

"Cooling Trolling Broom! Heating Kidding Mop! Oh yeah? Well! Go ahead but I don't think she'll see the point of the business."

"Amusing." Kanou Shade grinned.

"How stupid!" Shirakami groaned.

"By the way… Be careful. A business has reopened nearby and they have leeches going out and acting… I'm wrapping up evidence to bring to the police but it'd be better if you stayed away from that district when the sun sets…" Kanou Shade warned.

"Alright."

"De masu! Patrolling Running Mop! De masu! Circling Walking Broom! DE MASU~!"

"Jumping Bouncing Mop! Defending Smiling Broom!"

"Is there no end to this idiocy? I'm off!" Shirakami groaned.

"Hum. Mr. Shirakami has short patience for these things… Well then let us sit and watch…" Kanou Shade smiled.

10:26 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Che! I'm fed up with their idiocies."

"Oh, my… Cute, aren't ya?"

"Huh? Eh… What do you want, miss?"

"Tee, heh, heh. Want an ice-cream?"

"… No thanks."

"Come on!"

"No thanks."

"You're a mean kid."

"No. I'm untrusting of unknown people who approach me out of the blue and come up with _cliché_ tricks for those idiots with low IQ…"

"Hmpf! Clever, aren't cha?"

Shirakami had put on a pair of sunglasses and a navy blue cap before going outside into the street: he was mumbling aloud when a college student-aged girl on her mid-20s having brown teal hair and irises approached him and began to smile at him: Shirakami began to refuse her offers and she began to look annoyed.

"Of course. I do my research. Now flee you leech. The cops will soon catch you grunts." He announced as he turned around and walked away while stuffing both hands on his pockets.

"This little rascal…! Mary! Josephine! Let's catch him and teach him a lesson or two!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah!"

Another two girls suddenly came out of a building and the three of them surrounded Shirakami in the midst of a crossroad of alleys: Shirakami was unimpressed as he looked around.

"So, "union makes force", eh?" He taunted.

"You won't be laughing for much longer. Bring out the rope!"

One of them took out some rope from a plastic bag which had a ring tied at the end of it: she threw it at Shirakami but he ducked and skid across the ground to hit the right leg of one of the villains: she yelped and Shirakami then tackled her stomach area with the left shoulder followed by a kick there knocking the air outta her and tossing her into the ground: he ran towards a building's wall and bounced off it to hit the neck of the one having the rope with both feet: she collapsed into the ground and Shirakami suddenly yanked the right arm of the teal-haired girl to perform a _judo_ maneuver and throw her into the ground: the whole quarrel hadn't last even a minute.

"Told you."

He calmly walked away and simply stepped to the right when one of them recovered and tried to throw the rope at him from behind: he lifted an empty oil drum and placed it on the ground before kicking it and sending it rolling across the ground: it ran over the leader and knocked her out for good: Shirakami then climbed into a nearby rooftop using some piled wooden crates and kept on walking like nothing had actually happened: a chuckle rang out and a _katana_ suddenly landed in the ground in front of him getting stuck there.

"What?" He wondered.

"So! We meet again."

"Meet again…? That voice…"

"Angband! You were the one who fought and weakened my Mistress, the "Witch – Queen of Angmar"… Rock Man's reverse side… Shirakami!"

"Black Doom?"

Black Doom dropped down from apparently nowhere having his sword drawn: Shirakami eyed the _katana_ and seemed to frown under the sunglasses yet he picked it up nevertheless.

"Today you die."

"Oh yeah? You're a _shinigami_ now? My own name is a corruption of _shinigami_, see. Or I should say a little alteration upon the name "Shiragami – sama", a folkloric figure from a village somewhere. The guardian of a forest…" He drily replied.

His clothes turned into raw data and disappeared to give way to his Net Navi bodysuit, a complete copy of that of Rock Man's but colored purple instead of blue and having the emblem's trapezes be colored navy blue instead of red: Black Doom suddenly dashed forward in a blur but Shirakami ducked and rolled to a side while aiming the _katana_ to protect his right flank: he jumped to his feet while aiming the _katana_ slightly downwards and to the right so as to impede a frontal attack coming from Black Doom.

"Mere sword-play won't save you."

"And just selling Balrogs won't make your Mistress be revived."

"Her Grace's soul must still be left in this world: I'll find it and grant it a new body!" He proclaimed.

"Come on. You've been seeing too many fantasy _anime_." He wasn't impressed in the least.

"Shut up! You die!"

"Stop chatting. Fight."

"Hra~h! Full Power Mode!"

"What the hell! Full Power Mode?"

Black Doom suddenly began to glow with crimson energy which expanded from his chest and encompassed his frame thus generating another layor of armor colored crimson over it: his eyes flashed and he suddenly warped so Shirakmi spun around his axis while keeping the _katana_ in a blocking position: Black Doom showed up from the left but Shirakami blocked his incoming attack just in time: he warped again but Shirakami seemed to guess where he'd come from and blocked in time.

"You're fast but you go by the main rules of sword combat: but I don't get dizzy from spinning upon my axis. If Link from _The Legend of Zelda_ can do that in the games so can I." Shirakami taunted.

"Hmpf! And there you say I watch too much _anime_."

"Oi. I'm only interested in the sword techniques."

"Whatever. Go salmon."

"Go codfish!"

"Show me your anger!" He challenged.

"I've got no anger: just annoyance." Shirakami shot back.

"Hmpf!"

They began a clash of swords but Shirakami didn't yield any terrain at all while Black Doom's armor began to return to its usual coloring: a twitch seemed to form over his right eye and he began to sound and look annoyed.

"So? Is that all? What happened to that "Full Power Mode" or was that just some SFX?" Shirakami taunted without looking impressed to begin with.

"Damn you! Black Beam!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura."

The Holy Panel cut the attack power of the shot from Black Doom's left hand into half and the Dream Aura bounced it off: Black Doom suddenly attacked the Dream Aura three times in a row but wasn't able to get past it at all: he suddenly formed an Earthquake Virus yet Shirakami didn't move and let it fall to be vaporized by the Dream Aura: Black Doom suddenly chuckled.

"Super North-Wind!"

"What!"

"Eat this!"

Shirakami made a grimace and tried to ignore the pain of the sword being driven into his right shoulder: he suddenly drew a Tank Cannon and shot it at close quarters thus blowing Black Doom away and he recoiled from the gun's own recoil: Black Doom clutched his chest which had a pretty ugly wound there.

"Damn. Lowered the guard… Whatever! It's only a matter of time: the rule of Angband will be reborn!" He proclaimed.

He aimed his hands towards a nearby mobile telephony repeater antenna and left the Copy Roid which self-destroyed immediately afterwards: Shirakami looked down into the street and spotted the three college girls having their jaws open and looking scared.

"Now you know who you were messing with." He told them as he aimed the Tank Cannon at them.

The three of them ran in different directions and Shirakami grumbled under his breath as he jumped back to ground level and turned invisible thanks to the "Invisible" Battle Chip to run back towards the store: "Copy" Forte, Higure and Kanou Shade were standing outside of it and looking towards the rooftops: they'd obviously heard the scandal of the fighting and were trying to check it out.

"Black Doom." Shirakami announced as he became visible.

"Did he let out something?"

"He pulled a SFX stunt but did nothing to improve his power: besides, he was going by fantasy _anime_ too."

"I see. Well! I'd say we should be concerned with what the R – Nation or the Z – Nation might do next…" Kanou Shade muttered.

"I lost again, de masu…" Higure sighed.

"That's because there's no point in that stupid show."

"Leave me alone, Number Man, de masu~…"

"Fine. But I warned you over and over again."

"Welcome back to the Skeptical Club." Shirakami told him.

"True, true!"

"Guess I should try to help out and look around Angband while hoping big bro doesn't show up there…" "Copy" Forte muttered.

"Guess you should. I can handle the store." Shirakami told him.

"Alright, then… I'll go speak with Mr. Barrel and see if he approves of it which I guess he'll do. And then try to find out if I can book that new CD by Madonna!" "Copy" Forte grinned.

"Well then, I think I should be going… See you around, gentlemen. Beware of bad omens, Mr. Higure." Kanou Shade grinned.

"Roger, de masu… I'm going home, de masu… I need some apple juice to feel like a man again, de masu…!"

Higure walked away while hanging his head down and dragging his feet while muttering: Number Man's hologram was engaged in a discussion with him while "Copy" Forte closed the door and lowered the metallic shutter: Shirakami then sat on a chair and fumed.

"We gotta be careful: some college women tried to kidnap me and bring me to their abode for some ugly ploy. Turn on the perimeter alarms and the hidden cameras." He warned.

"Huh? Ah… Yeah, yeah. Roger. That's the last thing we'd need, truth to be spoken. Let devil bite me if they're not going to do it again."

"Doubt it. They saw the battle and now they know who they're messing with yet we should try to chase them and root them out so that they can't pull the same into the customers."

"No evil person is gonna harm our customers. My word."

"My point exactly. No – one harms the customers of "Cool Bros Battle Chip Store" and gets away with it!"

Both nodded in agreement and they shook their hands while smiling and blinking an eye to each other…


	7. Chapter 7: Bite of fire

**Chapter 7: Bite of fire**

10:57 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 19th…

"… So… Black Doom showed up again…"

"Yeah. But he wasn't fighting seriously."

"He was stalling… It'd seem the R – Nation has sent a Balrog to raze a Z – Nation border outpost…"

"Damn it."

Shirakami had called Barrel to report and Barrel looked at some information: Shirakami made a grimace upon hearing it.

"Can't be helped… Even though we were watching our borders we weren't expecting anything to happen yet in the R – Z Front… Guess we'll have to set some vigilance there. Yet it's not the opening act of full-scale conflict yet, no… It was a demonstration. A proof of their capabilities… They're giving them time to discuss and calculate their odds… The big bosses must be laughing and bloating about them having zero chances…" Barrel calmly told Shirakami.

"Hum. I see. By the way… You should tell the police that there are three college age women around our district trying to abduct guys my age to do unspeakable horrors to them. We don't want something like what happened to Rock Man in the summer to repeat and even less what happened to Sakurai's Net Navi…" He warned.

"I'll tell them."

"Yet something picked me. Black Doom bothered to bring a real _katana_ for me to use. I've kept it and looking at it I see that it has some traces of dried blood…"

"What? Dried blood…! How's the handle like…?"

"Hum… Red, ornamental oak… A piece of a museum…"

"Identical to the one used in Friday's evening… Too coincidental for my taste even… Keep it: I'll come to have a look at it."

"Roger."

"Over."

Barrel ended the call and sighed: he rubbed his eyes and then headed out of the command room into the lobby: he inserted a coin in the coffee vending machine and picked canned black coffee.

"… A _katana_ again, they say… Then again… Of course… Why didn't they think of it? Those guys lack imagination! _Why the heck_ would the _katana_ owner bother to bring it about when he already had a gun? Extra luggage considering he was only going to stay for that night… Why not leave at his home with the collection…? What if… What if Black Doom was the real killer and the suicide letter was written on the spot to camouflage the crime? I'm sure that the terrorist got into a brawl with the other man and managed to escape. So Black Doom came to clean up… No… Black Doom isn't working alone: he wouldn't have bothered to go for such a complicated scheme…!" He reflected aloud.

He drank a sip of the black coffee and then sat on one of the lobby's chairs to think.

"So he's working with someone…? Ah! That "Towa" man…! We've been unable to find out who the hell he is… Hmmm…"

He drank a bit more and he seemed to be getting new ideas.

"I wonder… I should ask who the one calling the older man was… And if he's still alive to tell it… I wouldn't be surprised if he was silenced that same night, though… This "Towa" man whoever he is seems to be a terribly cold-blooded bastard with enough capacity to improve on the spot… A fearsome opponent… And I'm sure the attempt wasn't a mere stunt: no, the targeted persons must've been eyesores to the bastard and wanted to remove them from the way… But with only the word "Towa" we won't get anywhere at all soon. We should try to capture Black Doom to force them to confess… Let's contact Zero."

He placed the can on the ground and took out his PET while staring at for a while before sighing and closing his eyes…

11:23 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Understood, then…? You'll have another 10 of them and each one will cost you 5,000…"

"A bargain, really… We've seen what stuff they're made of… Paying 50,000 to have the same weapon as those bastards is good enough… Do you know who provided them with those?"

"Dunno. But I thought you guys would be interested. I work on my account and don't follow the rules of any nation: such is the Reverse Internet… I'll give them to you and I'll have the money on the spot: don't think of any funny things because I've got insurance: the control sequence for the Balrogs is encoded with an algorithm stolen from the NSA. You alone won't be able to decode it or use them until I give you the release key. And I don't carry it on me so assaulting me is pointless too. I'll only hand it over if the money is real and solid…"

"Fine, fine…"

Black Doom was speaking with a black-colored Reverse Internet Net Navi having a purple Alphabet "Z" letter drawn on his chest and speaking a foreign accent: Black Doom sounded serious and business-like.

"Found you!"

"Damn."

"Who…?"

Black Doom warped as Zero dropped in the spot where he'd been at and sliced the empty air: Black Doom appeared again hovering high into the air and looking down (literally) on Zero.

"The defective prototype came to try again…" He taunted.

"No more games. You're working with that "Towa" man."

"Damn it. But you won't find a single bit of info on Master! I'll delete all info if I see I can't avoid capture!" He grumbled.

"Come!"

"Hrah!"

"Hah!"

"I'm outta 'ere!"

Zero leapt to the spot Black Doom was at and they began an interchange of sword blows: Black Doom was yielding terrain and apparently backing in front of Zero's swordsmanship but Zero realized the trap and quickly got info defense as a Tank Cannon was shot at him and Black Doom rushed in yet he found Zero ready to block and defend.

"Damn."

"Hmpf. So who's the failed prototype now?" Zero challenged.

"Shaddup! The great I won't lose!" Black Doom cursed.

"That's my motto."

They continued their exchange of blows but Zero didn't notice a tall figure silently moving towards him: a whip suddenly coiled around his upper body and violently swung him around until he was thrown upon the ground: looking up he saw the sheer mole of a Balrog whose body was burning with reddish flames and its eyes shone yellow.

"Damn it. So you play dirty!" Zero cursed.

"Yeah! I'm busy enough! I don't mind sparing one of these: we can breed them to infinity! Have at you, Zero!"

"Damn it."

Zero quickly jumped into the air to dodge the crushing attempt by the Balrog's left foot and drew his sword to repel the whip as it flew towards him: Zero shot a beam of greenish energy at the Balrog's head and it got momentarily stunned: Zero rushed over there yet the Balrog recovered faster than usual and punched him with the left hands' knuckles thus sending him flying: Zero groaned as he crashed against a pillar and got partially stuck there.

"Fuck!"

"Hora~h! Napalm Bomb! Eat this, this and these ones!"

Napalm Man suddenly dropped down from above and began to bombard the Balrog's head yet it quickly punched him away: Napalm Man groaned and tried to stand up.

"Almost as if they'd been powered up!" He cursed.

"Powered up…? But I didn't pick any "Dark Power" signatures…"

"… Power-up… Damn it! The "Booster System"…! They've managed to get their hands on it!" Barrel realized.

"What? Wasn't that what Nenji and I picked off that ship back on March and which Colonel somehow retrieved during the fight?"

"Yeah! The same thing, alright…!" Barrel grumbled.

"Darkness Overload!"

"Muwgro~h!"

The blast hit the head of the Balrog from the NE and the monster recoiled from the unexpected force of the attack: "Copy" Forte dropped atop his head and plunged his right hand into the cyber skin taking profit that it was surrounded by a sphere of energy.

"Get Ability Program!"

The "Booster System" hovered out of the Balrog's head and "Copy" Forte picked it before he jumped to the ground with the "Booster System" still on his hands.

"Yo. Sorry for the wait: I was trying to pick up the trail of the jerk around our district…" He announced.

"Good. Transfer the "Booster System" to us: it might provide us with some clues regarding the technology Black Doom has access to." Barrel commanded.

"Roger. Transfer… What the hell!"

"What's wrong?" Zero asked.

The "Booster System" began to shine and "Copy" Forte instinctively threw it into the air where it detonated and blew up: the Balrog was suddenly looming over them and they dodged as his left fist came crashing down into the terrain.

"Damn it. Sweep again?" Barrel hissed.

"This doesn't look like Black Doom's style." "Copy" Forte commented.

"No! We've guessed that he's on league with that "Towa" guy whoever the hell he is!" Barrel admitted.

"So you mean that…?"

"Yeah! The murder and suicide were "cleansing"… I'm sure the older guy was something else. The police are trying to locate his VP and hope he's still alive." Barrel grumbled.

"Damn it. This is turning ugly." Zero cursed.

"Let's worry 'bout that once we beat this ugly thing!"

"Yeah! Hell's Buster! Eat these!"

"Copy" Forte began to bombard the face of the Balrog with his gun and forced it to shield with the left hand while it swept the ground with the fiery whip using the right hand: Napalm Man landed on the wrists and began to bombard it thus making the hand sever from the body and fall into the ground: the Balrog howled but Zero quickly cut off the left wrist too: the Balrog's eyes suddenly turned red.

"Damn it. I don't like the looks of that… Plug-Out!" Barrel ordered.

The three Navis didn't argue and escaped just as the Balrog's flames began to crawl towards the center of its body and it suddenly formed a burst of flames shaped like a ring which set the whole area in a 20 meter radius in fire: the Balrog then drew two wings and flew upwards while the hands and discarded whip deleted themselves: a purple-colored swirl opened in the "skies" and the Balrog jumped inside to then close.

"You lose!" Black Doom's echoing voice taunted.

11:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… We're sorry."

"Don't mind it. You came back alive. At least we _did_ figure out that the culprit can use those gateways like "Original" Forte does…"

"Yeah… Big bro apparently uses some kind of half-implemented system which was never fully implemented after the Proto stuff…"

"I see…"

The three Navis were talking with Barrel following their retreat: Barrel looked slightly reminded as he sipped some more canned black coffee and the three Navis looked down.

"I caught him in the midst of a deal with a Z – Nation grunt… Now they're going to pit each other in a border conflict… No good." Zero admitted with some defeatism to his voice.

"Is Shirakami on your store, "Copy" Forte?"

"Yeah. He's in charge of it even though there are no customers: today's a Sunday, ya know. But he's kept the _katana_ untouched for: and since us Navis don't generate fingerprints then…" He confirmed.

"Good enough. At least we can try to study the dry blood to then figure out when it was last used via the DNA test…"

His PET rang and he looked at the caller's name.

"My contact in Kentucky… It's still Saturday for them and around 9PM there… Barrel…"

"Mr. Barrel… It's just as you suspected: Rob Machfield, the contact of the guy on the 50s has been found dead with a _katana_ and there's a note in Japanese which when translated says "no-one robs _Yakuza_ money and lives to laugh at it"…" Someone reported.

"Hell. They're coming up with believable scapegoats… They're hell-bent on erasing any hint or connection to them! Thanks for the info: be careful out there… Over."

"Should we try to head for that company and see if we intercept Black Doom on his way there or do you think it's too late?" Zero asked of Barrel next.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure but you guys are tired. I'll call on Blues and Tomahawk Man… They have power and skill."

"Barrel! The VP of the company has been taken into custody by the police right now and all of the deceased president's belongings have been picked up too…" Meijin ran in to tell the news.

"Is that so? Good. But they could be desperate enough to attack during transportation… "Copy" Forte! You're the one who has a Copy Roid at hand so put on your civilian outfit and follow their route… Try to get at a point where you're half-way between the office building and the police station…" Barrel commanded.

"Roger. Later, guys."

"I'll send Tomahawk Man to the office and Blues to the police station: Shadow Man and Killer Man are ideal choices too."

"It'd seem you're thinking up a few _scenarios_… Alright. Napalm Man: let's have a quick check and HP refilling to be ready to go out again. Follow me!" Zero told him.

"Alright, _Danna_! My heart's on fire: I wanna smash those guys and blow them up!"

When Barrel was left alone he spotted the email icon on his PET's menu and opened it up.

"Unknown email… "Vain."… Is that all? Hmpf… Whoever wrote this must think they are invincible… No – one's invincible: not even the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" was… "Towa"! You wrote this, right? I'll find you and drag you out your blood-smeared throne! I gotta go retrieve the _katana_ while I can…" He grumbled.

He finished the canned black coffee and threw it into the garbage bin.

_You're mere rubbish after all!_

12:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Doctor T. We'd wish some explanations. Is it true that Admin 5 is dead and his second-on-command has been arrested? Who is going to fill his post, then? What's going on?"

"He failed the Syndicate, gentlemen."

"Failed the Syndicate? How?"

"He tried to use our money sans permission and was spending a lot of money belonging to us in vain London auctions to buy Asian articles and show off… And when I charged him with organizing a mission to get rid of some interlopers he was unable to properly dispose of the executioner hand for their failure. So a punishment was needed. No actions endangering the finances of the "T Syndicate" will be tolerated! If we are to prove that we are serious then no ends must halt us! A cleansing operation is in course. Yet I was not expecting the police to suspect Vice Admin 5…"

"So what will you do? Silence them? And the whole enterprise next? "Guilty by association", you mean to say?"

"Do not fret. There will be no need. Vice Admin 5 knew little to nothing of importance… Besides I've planted some evidence pointing towards another organization…"

"Doctor T" was having a live conference with seven persons clad in business suits yet having some masks which covered their eyes and part of the nose: these persons were present via 3D images projected by the devices set on a circle and one of the slots was empty: "Doctor T" sounded graceful and charismatic while he merely bent his body slightly forward and aimed his hands upwards as if trying to convey the message "there was no other way around" to his public.

"Ah! That's something!" One of the men having a golden "4" drawn over his breast pocket sounded relieved.

"So you will not do anything regarding Vice Admin 5 then? You'll let that evidence discredit him?" A man having a golden "7" asked.

"Correct. And he's weak of will and body: he won't dare to speak outside of what the evidence dictates. The employees aren't to blame: they think their jobs are neat and legal given how Admin 5 tried to make it look like he was modest yet he threw extravagant parties on his mansion. No, gentlemen… Admin 5 was an ill choice!" "Doctor T" told them.

"That's true. He invited me once or twice." Admin 2 told the others.

"He did invite me too: those parties were wild." Admin 1 said.

"Wild? You mean as in…?" Admin 6 looked scandalized.

"Totally! He didn't bother to conceal it: he had a dungeon built beneath the mansion and mercenaries who'd bring _them_ in… Sometimes I believe they weren't even 16… And he didn't care for the sex either."

"Horrendous! Why had you not reported these before?" Admin 3 questioned his colleagues.

"We thought that had to be settled between him and Doctor T so we didn't interfere." Admin 2 argued back.

"And we did discuss this. Yet he ignored me… thrice. My patience has a limit and I had to remind that man his position. I'm sure he was planning to jump to politics and try to get into the Diet too. Are we to suffer even further malice from those incapable men there?"

"Of course not!" Admin 3 replied.

"The Diet! Hah! I'm sure he was after the money!" Admin 8 exclaimed.

"Obviously! Now we see why you had to act: had that man let at loose he'd made all of our 7 years of efforts be in vain!" Admin 1 grumbled.

"I am glad to see there is consensus yet I am always open to suggestions or as an advisor. Gentlemen! Our T Syndicate shall reach its goal: we shall purge those weaklings and re-insatiate the seriousness! And by that I mean _this_: Japan will return to being the glorious Empire it was!"

"And the Emperor shall be restored!"

"HORRAY~!"


	8. Chapter 8: Confessions

**Chapter 8: Confessions**

15:45 PM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 19th…

"… I swear! I knew nothing of the President's deals… He did a lot of them on his mansion! And I didn't know he travelled to London either! I was just doing my job!"

"Did he ever mention someone whose name begins by "Towa"?"

"Towa? No, never. I'd remember such a name."

"We found some documents… You're a part-time hacker in a hacker's forum, right? And there they say your group attacked the Diet's website 4 months ago in a Denial of Service plot…"

"W-well… That's…"

"So?"

Two police officers and Barrel were interrogating a man on his 30s with short brown hair and brown irises having reading glasses on and wearing a simple brown suit and tie plus pants and shoes: he looked nervous and the other three men were serious.

"Well! I did it! But that was on my free time! You can't just go "guilty by association" with the whole company!"

"Did you know if the President had any strange habits?"

"Dunno… He always came on foot to the office and was the first one to come each day. He had his usual coffee cup and a sandwich for lunch like everyone else… I didn't image that he had such wealth until one night four months ago he invited me to his manor… That place was opulent!"

"Did you see anything strange there?"

"Well… One of the maids confined to me that there was a basement room yet the staff was forbidden from entering there: the door was thick steel with _three_ locks on it and the President always carried the keys with him: he had no duplicates. There also was a garage entrance but it was very seldom used…"

"Oh? Did you ever see it?"

"No. I was only once in the house and I learned of that because I lost my way trying to find the restrooms."

"Hum. Maybe we should ask the staff… What kind of people came to that supper?"

"Rich businessmen… Including the VP of Panasonic!"

"The VP of Panasonic…! That's something." One of the officers muttered and lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"In fact… I think that Sony's, Cannon's and Toshiba's VPs were also there after thinking back… There were 13 of us and I had to look like a meaningless man to them but the President brought me along "to have a little thrill" in his own words… Yet I was dismissed right after the supper ended and told to go home which I did… The guests apparently headed back later because there was some deal going on yet the next day the President acted as if that had never happened…"

"Anything else?"

"Now that you mention it… When I went outside I spotted a black van stopping in front of the basement garage entry: it was allowed inside but I dunno when it left because I was on my way home…"

"A black van, a basement off-limits to the staff… VPs of gigantic corporations when your own enterprise is just 22 employees including the President… This sounds like some large-scale corruption." Barrel began to sound suspicious of the whole ordeal.

"Doesn't it? If you remember anything else then come see us: you may go back. We don't mind that of the DoS incident… Your former President's skeletons in the closet are beginning to surface and I'm afraid that we'll end up discovering something ugly. How much time have you been the VP there, anyway?"

"Two years… There was someone before me who stayed five years yet he was diagnosed with cancer and died half a year ago…"

"Alright. Go."

"G-goodbye."

"This whole business is turning deeper… We should request a search permit for the deceased President's house. I'm sure we'll find some clues there. And we should try to interrogate the staff. This is a murder investigation after all and once we tell the prosecutor of how major VPs are involved he'll like for this mess to be cleared up before it gets to the news…" Barrel suggested to them.

"Your reasoning is obvious, Barrel… We'll call the Inspector and report this to him yet the permit will surely take one or two days to be made."

"You work on that: I'm going back to the Science Labs."

"Alright."

Barrel came out of the station and ended up meeting face-to-face with reporter Midorikawa Kero of the DNN.

"Good afternoon! Any comments on the summoning of Easy Consulting Incorporated's VP?" She asked him.

"I ain't police. If they have something to say then they'll tell you guys when they feel like it is necessary…" He merely replied as he kept on walking.

"Nothing at all, then? I'm sure you let him go with a good reason!"

"He wasn't guilty of anything to begin with: we just wanted his witness to try to draw up a timetable of Friday's night events. Why don't you go ask about the Navi brawl in the midst of the town?"

"What! Where, when?"

"Where? 5th district, near the borders with the ugly sector… The when was a few hours ago. Maybe you're lucky and find someone who hasn't been pestered by the competency already."

"Let's go, then! Driver! Full speed ahead! We gotta get this _scoop_ before the competency can!"

Midorikawa jumped into the van and it sped away while Barrel calmly headed for the Metro Station and used his pass: he stopped in the platform and mixed with the crowd waiting for the train: he didn't notice someone slipping a note into his jeans' back pocket and then easily sneaking away: the train arrived and they waited for the passengers to come down before he climbed in.

_Black vans and secret basement rooms… You're not gonna tell me the guy was a corrupt who organized "wild" parties for his guests and got a lot of bribes and stuff in exchange… He surely knew some skeletons in the closets of those VPs and to buy their silence he had them pay some money: to avoid them tipping off to the police he organized those parties to make them be trapped within a vicious loop… He could then try to play the victim saying he was the one being abused of and that those guys ruled over what went on in the basement room…_

He suddenly noticed the paper on his pocket and unfolded it to find a computer-written message.

_Huh? "He who snoops too much ends up regretting it"… When did this end up in my pocket? Are they trying to threaten me? Hmpf… Threats and whatever. I won't halt. I'm sure that this President guy is part of something else involving Black Doom and his mysterious collaborator "Towa"…! If I can find out who the President met with then I can narrow down the list of suspects… I'm trying to find if that President guy had any contacts linked directly to that "Towa" man… That prosecutor guy would do fine to hurry it up with the search order: those guys might be desperate enough to try to set the manor in fire too... We can order vigilance for the time being of the outer perimeter appealing for safety reasons… I should go pick that _katana_ already by the way… Hmmm… Next stop will do fine…_

The train halted inside of the station and Barrel stepped down: he came out into the street and made his way to the closed down Battle Chip Store where he knocked in the shutter: it quickly opened and he stepped inside to be greeted by Shirakami on his civilian outfit and having the _katana_ plus its sheath set atop the counter.

"There it is."

"Good."

Barrel took out a handkerchief and examined it: the blade did have traces of dried blood on several spots of it but especially on the lower edge: Barrel lifted his eyebrows and seemed to spot something else as he studied it from different angles.

"… It'd seem this sword was used to cut someone's throat: the traces of blood and the lower edge's stained status indicate it… I'll be taking this to the forensics lab…" Barrel let out.

"Huh. Black Doom, that bastard… Now he goes around playing the executioner… Maybe he's that rumored _Katana_ Assassin who has caused a commotion in Hokkaido…"

"Sure thing… I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be true."

"Yo! I'm here. Sorry for the wait… Oh! Barrel – san!"

"Hmmm… Hikari Netto… You've got some business here?"

"Yeah. I come each Saturday and Sunday when I have time to play _Great Melee Smash Brothers Deluxe_!"

Netto had come into the store while carrying a small attaché case and having a broad grin on his face: Shirakami seemed to get in a better mood just from seeing him.

"Today I'll win."

"Well! That's to be seen."

"Alright. I'm off. Be careful of this area, Hikari Netto… It's not as safe as you may think." Barrel warned.

"Don't worry, Barrel – san! Shirakami always escorts me until the Metro Station." Netto smiled.

"Fine… I'll summon you when there's some Network stuff to take care of so…"

"Later!"

Barrel came out and Shirakami lowered the shutter while locking the sliding door: his grin began to grow and he looked like he'd been waiting for this moment.

"Alright! Let's go to your room, Shirakami. I'm impatient to begin. Heh, heh, heh!" Netto grinned.

"Me too… Netto – kun."

"By the way… Was that me or did Barrel - san take a _katana_ along with him on the way out?" Netto asked.

"Yeah. Black Doom tossed it to me for the fight and I've kept it: Mr. Barrel is looking into that murder plus suicide incident and he seems to think that Black Doom set it to look like that…"

"Yikes." Netto gasped.

"But enough grim talk. Let's have fun."

"Yeah! You're right."

Netto followed Shirakami into his room having just a bed, a small table with a laptop, an LCD TV plus a Game Cube console with two controllers connected to it: a poster of the film _2001: A Space Odyssey_ was set on the southern wall next to the entrance.

"I saw that film: Papa showed it to us and it really captivated us! It was so different from all films… There was so little spoken dialogue and you had to try to imagine what was going on… And the special effects suddenly turned dizzying and creepy… The last scenes were more than enough to creep both of us…" Netto admitted.

"Yeah… Director Kubrick had a unique style which radically diverged from the mainstream Hollywood mood… Filming in King Land also allowed him more liberty without being pestered by the Hollywood sharks… In the end it's become an icon… Think that when the film was being shot we hadn't reached the Moon yet so it's no wonder they were being rather imaginative…" Shirakami grinned.

"Enough preludes. Let's get down to business."

"Oh yeah."

Netto grinned and opened the case to reveal some curious black leather bands sets which looked like they were of adjustable length plus two wrist bracelets and a collar with a ring on the front of it: he began to undress and then Shirakami helped him put the set on.

"How do I look?"

"Sexy."

"Thanks."

Netto looked at how the set of bands ran down the sides of his body and circled backwards by running parallel to his penis: the bracelets fitted on his wrists and the collar was surrounding his neck: Netto looked animated at his own looks.

"Alright. Let's get on with the stuff."

"Roger."

Shirakami also undressed and placed Netto's arms behind him as he used a small metallic piece to lock the bracelets together thus immobilizing his hands: he picked him bridal style and left him atop the bed as Shirakami climbed in too and began to rub his penis to get it hard: he then picked Netto and had him descend so that his penis would go into Netto's insides in a slow manner: both began to look animated at the feeling and Shirakami pulled Netto down until the whole thing was inside: he then used his fingers to start rubbing the nipples and Netto grinned.

"You like doing that, eh?" Netto asked as he glanced over his right shoulder at Shirakami.

"How couldn't I? They feel nice." Shirakami admitted.

"I know… Go on."

Shirakami reached for beneath the pillow and took out a device which looked like a black plastic imitation of a penis without foreskin and having a metallic cylinder attached to beneath it.

"I'm going to tease you~…" He giggled.

"Go ahead." Netto authorized.

Shirakami lifted a switch on the base of it and the thing began to buzz and swing left and right: he pressed it against Netto's right nipple and a broad smile formed on his face as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of pleasure: Shirakami closed the left hand around his penis and began to rub it while Netto moved up and down Shirakami's length using his hips to move his body.

"Does this feel good, Netto – kun?"

"Yeah. It's our usual "soft" style, a little spicing up… But we don't intend to go beyond that. Saito – niisan barely kept his sanity after being driven to brutal ends by the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" back in August… And I know you've had wild fantasies given those 3D model photos I accidentally saw… But you'd never do that to me. You're a nice guy."

"Thanks… I'm glad you believe in me despite that of March…"

"Come on! You guys were just trying to toughen us up and try to see if "hate" could be harvested… No big deal!"

"Alright… If you say so… We were a bit too provocative back then. But we've changed." Shirakami admitted.

"I know that. And could you tease my left nipple next?"

"Sure thing."

Shirakami began to tease the left nipple while he used his left hand's thumb finger to pull down Netto's penis' foreskin and rub the exposed head: Netto began to laugh.

"It tickles!" He laughed.

"Sure does. I saw something cool on the Network the other day… Tease the urethra with a straw…" He admitted.

"Well… That doesn't sound bad… Let's try it once." Netto suggested with a smile.

"Alright."

Shirakami picked a straw and carefully inserted it inside of Netto's urethra: he gasped and looked surprised at the feeling.

"Netto – kun? Does it hurt…?" Shirakami asked.

"No… It feels… strange… Move it up and down!"

"O-okay… But tell me if it hurts, alright? I'll stop ASAP."

"Deal, deal."

Shirakami kept on using the straw and Netto's moans began to grown in intensity and his movements became faster: Netto noticed something and clenched his teeth.

"C-coming!"

Shirakami quickly took the straw out just as Netto released and stained his body and face with the spurts of semen: his own release tightened his insides and Shirakami's penis so he released as well: Shirakami then laid on the bed face-up and helped Netto get into that same position while both panted from the effort.

"Whoa… That felt so strong and good… Do it again next time!"

"Fine… But you gotta tell me if I harm you." Shirakami insisted.

"Lemme taste your penis too."

Shirakami grinned and took his penis out of Netto's insides while he placed Netto face down and with his face hovering above his hard penis: Netto began to lick it and took it inside of his mouth while Shirakami set a pace by placing his hand behind Netto's head: he kept on teasing his nipples with the vibrating toy in the meanwhile as he closed his eyes and moaned from the pleasure.

"N-Netto – kun… It tickles…!" He muttered.

Netto seemed to grin and began to move faster so Shirakami tried to keep up with his pace.

"Netto – kun!" He gasped.

He released inside of his mouth and panted as Netto lifted his head and showed him his semen-filled mouth: Shirakami tossed the toy away and lifted Netto so that his face was directly over his: he made contact and both closed their eyes as they shared a kiss and rubbed their penises together: Shirakami grabbed Netto's neck as if to pull him closer and Netto rubbed his penis with more strength against that of Shirakami: they suddenly released and separated while seeing how a string of saliva and semen linked them.

"That felt good." Netto admitted.

"I'm glad it felt good, Netto – kun… Eh… About Rock Man…"

"Papa had a talk with him to settle the matter. I still have to think of a good apology for all the trouble I put him into… Should I try writing a letter of apology?" Netto asked.

"I think that'd do it. Try to write it by hand: it may look more honest than computer-written and there's still a strong tradition regarding that. Now that I think about it… What would you like as a Christmas present?"

"Hmmm… Well… If it's not much asking… One of those _Tintin_ albums: even if it's on the original French I'm sure that Saito – niisan can help me interpret them…" Netto requested.

"Deal. I'll address it to both of you. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough. And now I get to have fun."

Netto rubbed his penis and got it hard before sliding down and stuffing into Shirakami's insides using his hips' strength: Shirakami gasped and Netto began to push in and pull out while Shirakami rubbed his penis and played with the toy applying it into his own nipples.

"Oh… Netto – kun…! I'm going off!"

Shirakami released and Netto followed him: he grinned and Shirakami formed a smug smile as he pulled the covers over them and apparently continued on playing…


	9. Chapter 9: Chamber of horrors

**Chapter 9: Chamber of horrors**

18:18 PM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 19th…

"… Barrel? We got the search permit: the Prosecutor wasted no time and demanded an express procedure: the judge in charge of the affair agreed on it once seeing how this could become a big scandal affecting the reputations of those big companies and it'd be better to try to find out what's going on in a quiet manner… Let's say that we suspect the President to be involved in some Yakuza deals but we won't mention anything of those VPs meetings… Luckily enough… Only you and I, my buddy Haenta and the inspector know the truth…"

"Good idea. I'm heading over there."

"See ya there."

Barrel finished the phone call and came out of the Science Labs' command room: he spotted Meijin sipping his usual _cappuccino_ coffee and working on something.

"I'm scanning for anything suspicious in the ZR Border…"

"Good. Call me ASAP if you find anything."

"Deal."

Barrel came out into the lobby and found Kanou Shade waiting there while having a folder with some documents inside: he'd taken off the sunglasses and looked grave, for once.

"Mr. Barrel. This is a warning of what you're going to find there: some calls and using the name of my former employer have turned out this information. That man could've been Satan's incarnation even."

"Satan's incarnation?" Barrel was obviously taken aback.

"I don't joke, sir. I'm sure this man was shown the very core of the "Secret Empire" and became obsessed with having all of that at his disposal… It was sickening enough to compose this report."

"Damn it."

Barrel read some lists and documents and he formed a grimace while Kanou Shade merely nodded as if to confirm it.

"No wonder you name the bastard Satan's incarnation. This is the sickest thing I'd ever heard here in Japan ever since the WWII war crimes: hell, this makes that water poisoning agony look pale in comparison. That was recklessness and idiocy. But this is purposeful and without regrets. I'm sure that even the benefactor of this bastard was starting to grow tired of him and used the fail bomb-rigged car incident as a perfect excuse to get rid of him." Barrel whispered.

"Indeed."

"We gotta keep this info away from the media."

"Don't worry: this is in the only copy. It's meant to be further evidence for the police report. You may destroy it once done. And I'm sure any questioning to the suppliers would make them say they were over the 18~20 years old range thus lessening the scale of the thing… I'm not an advocate of censorship or privation of freedom yet this is too much for the Japanese society to accept… Consequential analysis…"

"You're right, Kanou Shade. We'll go with this approach to soften the blow and we must make sure to keep this a secret even from the "Team of Colonel" members and the "Backup Team" members… This is what we will tell the media and they will buy it because we will use some slightly altered documents as evidence…" Barrel settled.

"Good. I will go to try to clear my head. I'm going at Marine Harbor to cool off."

"Alright. Thanks for the help."

"It's nothing: my goal is to expose such criminals and make sure they don't get away with it no matter what." Kanou Shade reminded him.

"I agree with that. Good luck."

"Thank you. We'll both need it, Mr. Barrel."

"Yeah… Sure thing…"

18:53 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. We didn't find the keys on the corpse or anywhere in the home so we're going to make our way inside through the garage shutter by short-circuiting the control panel and making it rise up. Then put that temporary black curtain to make sure no – one can spy on what we do inside with a high-power-zoom-camera."

"Roger."

"Only the four of us are going inside. All others must speak with the staff and try to make an inventory of any luxurious items. Remember to wear the gloves at all times and take photos of everything before moving or inspecting it. Always check with your superiors. Alright?"

"Roger, sir!"

Barrel, Unoda, another officer and one inspector were standing in front of the garage shutter built on the east side of a large three-story manor surrounded by a park and enclosed within steel fences with spears aiming upwards: several patrol cars had been parked nearby and another two policemen were accompanying the group: one of them was interacting with the circuitry of the lock.

"There!"

The shutter rose and another two policemen quickly lifted some sets of black robe curtains to form a screen impeding anyone to see what was going on beyond them: the two policemen guarding it took out binoculars and began to scan the area.

"Patrols: check each nook and cranny. Climb trees if necessary. But no photography or video is allowed: this is a police operation." The inspector commanded over his walkie-talkie.

"Roger."

"It opened… Damn. It's pitch-black. Let's try to find the light switch before doing anything." Unoda muttered.

"Should be near the entrance by logic…"

The other officer stumbled upon it and the purple fluorescent lights turned on: the four men gasped upon seeing the room.

"Damn. A _dungeon_…!" Barrel cursed.

The room's walls didn't have any paint and showed the red bricks which made them up: some objects covered in black robes could be guessed around it and there were plenty of foldable chairs plus chains with cuffs hanging from the ceiling and having pulleys to regulate their height: a staircase led upwards and to the ground floor door: trolleys with several objects set on their platters had been parked in a corner of the room as well.

"So that's how he kept those VPs under his control… He invited them to join these "wild" parties and fueled their lust! They were glad to have these opportunities… We'll have to bring up different charges for each one or the whole thing will be exposed… The biggest corruption affair in the last 5 years…!" The inspector grimly muttered.

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg… A source of mine into which I trust just gave me this. Be wary, though. You gotta have stomach to get past the first page without throwing off or fainting."

"B-by all the…! T-this is…! Impossible! We'd heard of such numbers! But we've only gotten reports of two or three…"

"Maybe they are brought from other provinces too. Try to sum up all of the cases and you'll see how the numbers will eventually make sense: I warned you, Inspector Gureme."

"You sure did, Mr. Barrel… Kami – sama! Luckily my daughter is the type to stay home and study… I should warn her against going out."

"Come on. Don't go on robbing her freedom: just make sure the routes she takes are safe… And that she doesn't talk to strangers."

"Hum… That can be settled later! Duty is duty! Ahem, ahem! Take photos of all this and make an inventory… But that SD memory card will be kept by me and then shown in secret to the prosecutor and judge… They will be key evidence… Let's then call forensics and see if we find traces."

"There'll be. Hairs… Or semen." Barrel guessed as he scanned the ground and floors.

He headed for the chairs and examined them from different angles without touching them.

"There are some here which must be from the last party…"

"Good. And fingerprints! I'm sure there must be. They must have been very confident and thought there'd be no trouble with leaving them behind…!" Inspector Gureme muttered as he took out a handkerchief and wiped off the sweat.

"AC and sound insulation… Hi-fi music equipment… Fridge full of _sake_ and other alcoholic drinks… Caviar, _pâté_, Iberia ham… They sure had enough stuff for an extra meal." Barrel reported.

"Imported meals, huh? This man must've had a lot of hidden money in tax haven countries and must have been fond of tax evasion… Surely he invited the tax inspectors to these as well to corrupt them. Maybe we should be grateful someone put a stop to it and all this got exposed although it'd been preferable to condemn him to the gallows."

"Sure thing… Let's wrap up with the photography and then send just two forensics officers… Under an oath of silence obviously… They'll understand the need for it." Unoda grumbled.

"Damn it. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hadn't tackled such a horrible case in my 23 years of being inspector. I'd gladly handle some break-in with murder instead!" Inspector Gureme fumed.

"Anyone would…" Barrel confirmed as he checked some drawers and took photos of some bundles of bank notes inside of them.

"The same batch McEdelson and he had… There's no doubt anymore that he's the one who organized the bomb-rigged car terrorist incident and select McEdelson to do the dirty job…" Inspector Gureme put two and two together as he glanced at them.

"Man. This whole affair is scary enough!"

19:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh… I knew it! There you are… Kanou Shade! I can see you but you can't see me… I'm just another figure amongst the crowds of curious sheep… The perfect camouflage… I did well on coming over: I suspected your bastard would have provided the cops with info… And over there I can see Zataki Tosho… The miserable traitor to IQ – sama!"

"Doctor T" dressed in a navy blue raincoat and a sailor's cap which hid most of his face due to its shade was standing amongst the curious crowd which had formed around the area of the manor: Kanou Shade could be seen standing and looking there about 50 meters NNE of his position and Zataki Tosho was doing the same from about 30 meters NNW thus making "Doctor T" be in the center of an invisible triangle which would be aiming southwards.

"… How does it look like, _Shachou_?" Someone asked Zataki over a wireless earphone he had on his right ear.

"They're searching the manor… It'd seem they're looking for the items he bought from the London auctions… Mr. Barrel went inside from the garage and a black curtain has been set in front of it to impede anyone from seeing what they do inside… They mustn't want anyone to peek into their investigation…" Zataki whispered back.

"I see."

"By the way… How's the Beta Front holding like?"

"Beta went to 5 to see Epsilon. Alpha remained in 1. Gamma is in 10. Delta is in 1 too." The person on the other end of the line dictated.

"Good. Make sure Beta comes back to 1 without trouble. I know Epsilon will accompany them to 3 but just to be on the safe side taking into account the presence of 12…" Zataki muttered.

"Don't worry about 12… There's a raid tonight. So they won't dare to come outside of the borders."

"Good enough."

"I'm seeing it through the TV news now… Inspector Gumere is going to speak to the media right now… I'll increase the volume so that you can hear it too, _Shachou_…"

"Good, O."

"… Regarding the reason for this search… There are two. One of them is to make a list of some items acquired with dubious money and methods in annual London auctions… And two is to check if he was, as we suspected, storing illegal materials… It's been confirmed: we found tons of drugs, unlabelled cigarettes and beer plus some fake bills… I'll show them to you and we'd like of you to distribute this image to make sure you're not fooled by them… See, unlike official bills, these ones are missing the government seal in the NNW corner… So this is the best way to tell them apart: we believe these bundles were pending further processing yet this man tried to rush it up and use it already…"

"We have heard rumors of parties involving important financial and corporate figures." One reporter brought up.

"True. The man was bribing them because he'd found out some skeletons in their closet yet instead of bribing them with money he'd given them some material gifts… And their consumption was a guarantee that they'd come for more and be silent about trying to discredit the offender."

"Was it really necessary to hide your search of the basement?" Another reporter asked.

"We wanted to do a list of the items calmly and without being interrupted the whole time. We've taken photos and film which will be released in a few days' time once the judge in charge of this investigation gives us the go-ahead."

"We understand… But were those financial and corporate persons really important or…?"

"I cannot confirm or deny that."

"Someone says they were very important persons and that there's a gigantic network of corruption in place…"

"I insist: I won't confirm or deny that."

"So there _is_ such a network?"

"Do excuse me: but it'd seem you don't understand me. I said that I won't confirm or deny that. I didn't say it was true. You're speculating."

"True. Cool it down. You're just looking for a headline." Another reporter told him.

"Che. Always robbing us of the glory…!"

"That is all we have to say for the moment. I insist once again: any rumors you heard must be taken with skepticism. We will hold another press conference once we unearth further details." Inspector Gumere insisted to the audience.

"He's left and the reporters are turning back but the guy chasing the headline is now pestering one of the policemen…" The guy named "O" reported.

"… Come on! 5,000Z!"

"Are you trying to bribe a police officer, sir?"

"Not bribe. Reward!"

"No, sir. That's a bribe to try to make me disclose confidential information and break my vow. No, sir. Please go back, sir, or you will be charged with attempted bribery. You're being filmed by your very own cameraman in case you hadn't noticed, sir."

"Toroo! Turn that thing off!"

"You're not my Boss. The Boss decides when I turn it off."

"Merai! What do you think you're doing? Come back to the van NOW and you can kiss goodbye to your job! Bringing a scandal to the NTV by trying to bribe a policeman…! The big bosses will have your head in a silver platter! My word!" The "Boss" growled over a walkie-talkie.

"Man."

"Really… That guy was going for the _cliché_. But such things don't happen here in Japan: the officers are very responsible. He must've seen _Dirty Harry_." Zataki grumbled.

"Sure thing, _Shachou_…"

"… Mr. Barrel… Was it like I thought?" Kanou Shade was making a phone call in the meanwhile.

"Yeah. The lottery number was correct but the price is a misery." Barrel replied.

"Too bad… It'd seem we didn't have enough foresight." Kanou Shade played the resigned.

"Better luck next time I guess…" Barrel played it too.

"Alright. I'm going back. Good evening."

"Good evening."

Kanou Shade headed away while "Doctor T" made a smug smile and glanced on his direction.

"No… The time for the weed isn't due yet in the southern hemisphere… I must wait…" He muttered in a hushed tone.

"… Anyway… Have you really been sleeping enough, _Shachou_? Doctor L says you're not." "O" argued with Zataki.

"It ain't easy forgetting that I escaped by mere luck from certain death and all of my labors would crumble." Zataki icily replied.

"Oh… Eh… Well… True, true… My bad."

"No. You're not to blame. I guess Fate is being generous with me… On a more serious note the stubbornness of some guys to tune their clocks actually helped me out… I'm heading back to the house. I need some a hot green tea to vent off my nerves." Zataki muttered.

"Alright… We'll keep the surveillance up in the "10" front in case something is being brewed up… A witches' brew surely is forming there…"

"Hah… That wasn't a bad joke. You know… That reminds me of the novel _3001: The Final Odyssey_ in which they described the Kuiper Belt ice as having a witches' brew of weird chemicals… And there's the motto "comets have bad breaths"…" He muttered with a hint of amusement and forming a weak smile.

He turned away and headed southwards: "Doctor T" grinned and remained there while he brought out a cell phone from his right pocket and turned it on.

"… Confirm bet: 1500 Z on 5. Repeat: 1500 Z on 5. Tomorrow's Oosaka Horse Race… Correct… My source? Too bad, it's a secret. Just do your job and write that down. Yeah. Goodbye." He told someone.

Chuckling under his breath he set his gaze on Barrel as he headed for a patrol car and climbed inside to leave.

"Barrel… You might prove to be a bone on the throat… A hard one to swallow too… But whatever… My projects will come into fruition sooner or later…" He muttered.

He also left the scene and headed down the streets while keeping both hands inside of the raincoat's pockets: he then headed across some streets and carefully looked out into another one to see the closed down Battle Chip store.

"… Hmmm… No… Not worth it… There must be vigilance: Zataki is the type to get obsessed with not letting a single fly get through. Feel confident while you can, you traitor. Your punishment is about to fall upon you and there won't be any mistakes this time around…"

He slipped away and stopped to take out a cigarette and light it: he exhaled some smoke and held it between his right hand's index and middle fingers before sipping some of it again.

"Good brand, yeah… Anyway… Admin 5 will soon be exposed to have been an ego-filled bastard! And the other 7 Administrators won't doubt that it was good to get rid of the man… Heh, heh, heh… For victory!"

He laughed under his breath…


	10. Chapter 10: Plague

**Chapter 10: Plague**

09:19 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 20th…

"… Man! I always get the short straw and it's up to me to bring those guys some snacks from the vending machines… Who had the bright idea to place them _outside_ of the Science Labs? Can't they see that they'll wear down more easily like this?"

"Come on, Dingo. You've got to help the staff."

"I know that tune."

"Then less groaning and get to work."

"Che!"

Dingo came out of the Science Labs' main building and headed for a vending machine: he inserted a bank note and selected different brands of canned coffee which he put on bag.

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The revolution!" The vending machine suddenly announced.

"Shut up, Frank." An annoyed voice replied.

"HUH? What was _that_?" Dingo asked.

"A joke left behind by "Copy" Forte or so I've been told by Blues." He shrugged.

"That jerk guy… I'll beat him in a fair battle!"

"No you won't. His power is greatly above mine."

"Why does everyone try to make me look like an idiot?"

"No – one is doing that: you just happen to be red-blooded and very impatient. Rock Man's Operator is the same kind and you influence each other." Tomahawk Man sighed.

"I know!"

"You're realized that? Good, deliver that and…"

"No! I know what to do to shine!" Dingo grinned.

"Damn. When he says that then it means trouble is gonna knock at the door…" Tomahawk Man grimly muttered.

"We're gonna go to Angband to find Black Doom and stop him from picking more Balrogs!"

"Too bad. The guy said they've found a way to breed them to the infinity with the samples they have and I believe him: after all once you have enough samples of a program you can copy it countless times."

"NO WAY!" Dingo groaned.

"Way. Now go deliver those."

"Whatever! I'll find a forgotten super weapon there and use it to beat that guy to a pulp! Then all trouble ends!"

"Nope. The guy's sold Balrogs to the Z – Nation and the R – Nation and that's a spot where we can't interfere: but they'll surely pit Balrog VS Balrog and destroy each other… And we need to capture the guy to draw out that "Towa" man, the root of everything…" Tomahawk Man corrected with building annoyance.

"Damn it! Why do I always get to be ten steps behind? I wanna outrun them and get some glory!" Dingo groaned.

"If ya think like that the only thing ya will manage is get yourself killed by charging into recklessness." Tomahawk Man growled.

"Oi! Dingo! The coffee~!" Someone yelled from the building.

"Che! Alright, alright… But I'm going to Angband and I'm gonna prove I have guts! I'm not a chicken! Dingo's word!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just move it."

"I'll be glorious and get the new Madonna CD by the way!"

"Jeez. This stubborn dude… We'll be lucky not to get ourselves killed by charging in so stupidly…"

09:51 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Inspector Gumere? Barrel… How's it going?"

"We've called all of the involved VPs to individual questionings: the press is starting to catch up but we've prepared different charges for each one of them… Constant guard has been set on the manor and the staff is under vigilance… They're not sure what will happen to them but they will most surely have to find employment elsewhere… It's not dangerous to let them go because they know nothing about the basement. The forensics finished their job and we've shut the shutter plus adding a new lock to it and a seal: we'll be able to detect if someone tries to force it open thanks to the hidden movement-triggered camera…"

"Good. Bring out the forensic evidence so that their lawyers can't begin to play with loopholes: unless they're the moral-deprived type they won't have enough stomach to handle the info that they trafficked with illegal stuff…"

"Obviously."

Barrel had placed a call to Inspector Gumere while sitting in a chair inside of a small Science Labs office with views to the adjacent harbor: he was sipping his usual black canned coffee.

"The list of exotic items isn't done yet but three quarters done approximately… And the value has already gone past the billion Z and it'll surely get higher. This man was a billionaire, alright." Inspector Gumere fumed.

"No doubt… With the bribes he got and some speculation… But luckily all of that has collapsed. How did the raid yesterday go like?"

"We did find all of the missing ones… But some of them were critical so they're under psychological observation in the hospital… Luckily the press people are still going over the bastard's death and the implications it has supposed so…" Inspector Gumere added in.

"Even so there are laws to impede the press from directly speaking with minors without parental consent…"

"You'll be glad to know that the man who attempted to bribe a policeman for information has been fired immediately afterwards and the director of the NTV presented his most humble apologies to the National Chief of Police in Tokyo…" Inspector Gumere sounded in a better mood when he reported this.

"Good. Let's get rid of the idiots and..."

"Muwra~h!" A roar rang out of nowhere.

"What was _that_?" Inspector Gumere gasped.

"Trouble I guess. Later."

Barrel ran downstairs into the Control System room and found Meijin frantically typing into the PC.

"Barrel! I need help! Gate Man! Gate Man's been infected with that program and is running berserk!"

"Worry not! Dingo and Tomahawk Man are gonna save the day and become the national heroes!" Dingo laughed as he ran into the room with a broad grin on his face.

"Whatever! Just stop the guy!"

"Plug In! Tomahawk Man, Transmission!"

Tomahawk Man ran inside of the system and found Gate Man running amok while shooting his "Gate Cannon" around.

"Yo! Gate Man! Get a hold of yourself!"

"Hate! Hate! Hate! I hate all of you guys! I hate everything! This world's so boring: I'll make it funnier! Go to Hell, Meijin!"

"You just didn't say that." Meijin grumbled.

"And you too! Tomahawk Man! Ma no Te!"

"Yikes! Tomahawk Air Raid!"

"Useless! Remote Gate!"

Gate Man stepped into the gate and warped thus Tomahawk Man's attack was in vain: he barely had the time to turn around when he got blasted from behind by Gate Man's "Gate Cannon" given how he'd come out of his "Remote Gate" right behind Tomahawk Man.

"Totem – sama! Meteors!"

"Go! Gate Soldiers! Remote Gate!"

The small "Gate Soldiers" ran towards Tomahawk Man as Gate Man hid inside of the "Remote Gate" but Tomahawk Man began to flash in a greenish light.

"Tomahawk Swing!"

The swing annihilated the enemies and hit Gate Man as he tried to tie in his "Demon Hand" attack: he growled and warped again while Tomahawk Man began to regenerate HP: he estimated the next attack and hit Gate Man when he showed up behind him: Gate Man suddenly chuckled and seemed to smile.

"Dark Meteors!"

"Oh fuck." Tomahawk Man cursed.

"Totem – sama!"

Tomahawk Man turned into invincible mode again and escaped unscratched from Gate Man's attack yet he'd taken the chance to warp again: Tomahawk Man turned around but didn't meet any target and a "Gate Cannon" blow landed on him from the right: he turned right but then the attack came from the left: Tomahawk Man growled and began to recover HP as he tried to guess where would the next attack come from: he stepped forward but the ground suddenly exploded and he was sent flying to the land, hard, on the ground.

"Damn. Stealth Mine Battle Chip!" He realized.

"Heh, heh, heh. Now you're finished."

"I wholeheartedly disagree… _Nin_!"

"What! Shadow Man too!"

"I heard there was trouble." Dark Miyabi announced as he calmly stepped into the room.

"Sure thing… We need to stall for time so that Meijin can finish loading the vaccine program… 2 minutes 5 seconds…"

"2 minutes? No big deal. Shadow Man! Go."

"Roger, My Master… Shadow Clone! Fire Spell!"

Shadow Man attacked Gate Man with three copies of himself and Tomahawk Man landed a "Tomahawk Swing" on him: Gate Man growled and tried to shoot around at wild yet his attempts didn't meet any real target and Shadow Man bombarded him with four consecutive _shuriken_ thus inflicting some real damage.

"1 minute 22 seconds!" Meijin whispered.

"Keep at it." Dark Miyabi ordered.

"Roger. Shadow Blade!"

"Damn you! But… Stopping me will be a vain victory."

"Huh? Why?" Dingo asked.

"Heh, heh, heh… Soon the Cyber World will be plagued by my brethren and plunge into terror and confusion!" He laughed.

"47 seconds… That doesn't sound nice." Meijin grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Do you realize it? Or are you too blind? I can hear it: the resonance of my brethren! They're awakening one after the other and soon calamity will ensue!" Gate Man laughed.

"6 seconds…! Damn it!" Meijin cursed.

"Go ahead and make it a good shot, you fool! Stopping me is nothing compared to trying to stop 27… No, 31 brethren!"

"Fire! Vaccine Chip: Fire!"

A square blue box with the Science Labs logo on it formed on the air and shot a blast of light at Gate Man: he roared as the "Dark Power" split off from his body and he collapsed into the ground while Shadow Man and Tomahawk Man destroyed the program: alarms began to ring out and at that moment a stampede of about ten rampaging Navis headed over them while wielding default weapons like Vulcan Battle Chips or Sword Battle Chips: they seemed to lack coordination as some were fighting each other and others tried to fight Tomahawk Man and Shadow Man only to be quickly knocked out.

"So?" A taunting voice rang out.

Tomahawk Man and Shadow Man looked up to see Black Doom folding his arms and looking down on them (literally) with obvious mockery: Shadow Man silently formed a "Shadow Clone" and tried to attack the guy from behind but he turned out to be a 3D image.

"3D image!" He gasped.

"Fool! Did you really think I'd bother to drop here when I'm closing down the deal with the Z – Nation? The bred Balrogs are theirs now: let the Balrog Border War begin!" He laughed.

"Damn it. Meijin! Can't we try to find a way to spread the "Vaccine Chip" at several Navis?" Barrel asked.

"I'm trying to! Hmmm… By forming instant loaded copies then I can shoot them one per one: you gotta try to destroy the core programs. I'd need someone to find out where these guys came from and try to figure out the root of this mass infection…" Meijin replied.

"I'll be looking from my VIP box how you get overrun."

"That ain't gonna happen. Hah!"

"Zero! Good timing." Tomahawk Man sighed in relief.

Zero rushed in and knocked out a Navi before Meijin shoot the "Vaccine Chip" at him and Zero destroyed the vicious program: Black Doom merely folded his arms.

"Useless! I can detect that another 49 Navis are running berserk in the Akihara/Densan Network! Correction… 58!"

"How can they increase so fast?" Meijin wondered.

"And there hundreds more across this nation and it's happening ALL OVER THE WORLD by now! Apocalypse Day!" He laughed.

"No way! W-what the hell's causing such a huge outbreak?"

"Dunno. Maybe we're wizards or sorcerers like Gufuu of _The Mysterious Hat_?" Black Doom joked.

"Gufuu? Sounds weird." Dingo muttered.

"Not as weird as your Colorado dialect." Black Doom taunted.

"Colorado dialect! How dare ya! I'm a hardcore Louisiana guy!"

"So Uncle Louis had you go through the ritual?" He taunted next.

"W-what ritual? The prayers to Totem – sama?" Dingo frowned.

"The ritual of manhood, I mean." He replied.

"There's no such thing." Dingo looked skeptical by now.

"Pity. I thought he'd let you taste his secret weapon."

"Hold on. I've got an uncle but he's named Simon and not Louis." Dingo corrected him with obvious annoyance.

"Oh yeah? I thought you had an owl-shaped God."

"No, we don't!" Dingo was pretty annoyed by now.

"Wanna bring me to the court?" He challenged.

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna see ya in court, buddy!"

"Perfect. I'll go ring DHL and send my MiG there."

"MiG? The Soviet Sharo military jet?" Barrel frowned.

"Maybe you prefer to face one bare-handed to this, Barrel?"

"Don't laugh at me, you bastard."

"Heh, heh, heh… That face of anger and hurt pride amuses me… Heh, heh, heh…" Black Doom chuckled.

"… Hand over your power, you bastard!" A voice rang out.

"Huh? Hmpf! So you showed up… But you can't defeat me: this is a mere 3D image! Try it, though, you fool!" Black Doom looked over his right shoulder and was unimpressed.

"That's… "Original" Forte!"

"Original" Forte could be told apart from "Copy" Forte given his cloak and how his eyes only showed unleashed lust and hatred: he was flying towards Black Doom from behind while having his "Dark Arm Blades" drawn and looking power-hungry: Black Doom was not taken aback and he merely remained there while "Original" Forte shot past him and stopped while growling.

"Show your hide!"

"I won't. I'm busy." Black Doom shot back.

"This chaos… You've started it!" "Original" Forte growled.

"And so what? You can't absorb "Dark Power" anymore given how your body has permanent antibodies on it."

"Shaddup! Earth Breaker!"

"You really don't listen, huh? Do you even know what "3D image" means to begin with?" Black Doom taunted.

"Shit! I'll find you!"

"Original" Forte raced outside of the area while Zero, Shadow Man and Tomahawk Man tried to contain the avalanche of berserk Navis: Meijin brought up a map displaying several purple spots increasing in several parts of the Cyber World.

"They keep on growing!"

"Damn. How are we gonna stop that?"

"Dunno!" Meijin admitted.

"Let's mobilize all fighting-capable Navis NOW!"

"Roger!"

Meijin quickly wrote and email and send it out to multiple persons as the numbers increased: some white spots began to generate and the numbers began to dwindle in a slow but constant manner.

"Good." He smiled.

"Hmpf… That's just the tip of the iceberg… Let's shake it up."

A low-magnitude earthquake made the ground vibrate slightly and everyone gasped while Black Doom chuckled.

"So? _Déjà vu_ anyone?"

"Damn. This is just like the Freeze Man Incident: he scattered Cyber Ice across the Cyber World and from the Kotobuki Square Gospel HQ arranged for the malfunction of the environment control system to try to cause a major environmental catastrophe!" Meijin recalled.

"If he could see me he'd be pretty annoyed."

"I am already annoyed! And you won't escape your doom much longer, Black Doom!" A familiar voice menaced over the radio.

"Freeze Man…? Ah… True… That guy, "Hack", saved you back in August and you switched sides… How shameful: you had absolute power and you didn't appreciate the Mistress' gifts… Whatever. I'm off."

"Che! It was her who tossed me away like a broken tool! But I won't allow for that incident to repeat… I'm going to the Environment Control System with Rock Man and Grand…! We need to halt this!"

"Good luck! Go for it!" Meijin encouraged.

_Just how is this plague spreading so fast? What's the trick…? Can we stop it somehow before it become worse? Damn it. What a morning!_


	11. Chapter 11: Prime source

**Chapter 11: Prime source**

11:58 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 20th…

"… Here we are… The Environment Control Center… All of the Navis are running berserk!"

"What do you suggest, Grand?"

"Well. Hack. Buddy… We should cut through them."

"Yeah. I see no other way around either. Let's go, Rock Man!"

"Yup, Netto – kun!"

Freeze Man, Rock Man and one Net Navi colored ice blue and red with grey irises had come inside of the Cyber World of the Environment Control System to find chaos as both Security Navis and normal Navis were fighting each other.

"Look!" Freeze Man pointed.

They spotted how one berserk normal Navi's Sword Battle Chip glowed and became a Dark Sword which he drove into a security Navi and infected him.

"So they transmit the program from one to the other yet… Where is the prime source?" "Hack", a youthful-sounding guy, wondered.

"Dunno. I guess only Black Doom knows."

"Did you call for me?" Black Doom taunted as his 3D image appeared in the air and looked at them with obvious scorn.

"Black Doom…!" Freeze Man made a grimace.

"So the gramps is back."

"Hmpf!"

"I'd love to see you running berserk too. Ever heard of Raccoon City? Heh, heh, heh…" He chuckled.

"Raccoon City? Where's that?" Netto wondered.

"Dunno." Grand admitted.

"I don't know either. I was never good at local geography." "Hack" admitted.

"No. And I don't see why you bring it up. But my power keeps on being high even without the "Dark Power" and thanks to my bodily antibodies I can't be infected." Freeze Man replied.

"Hmpf! Then try to stop this before an earthquake measuring 9.5 in the Richter scale rings out." Black Doom challenged.

"You're insane!" Netto growled.

One of Black Doom's ear-pads began to glow with an intermittent purple light and he glanced at it.

"… No, don't worry, Master… Just a little something to make them step into the trap… Of course not… I know that such a thing wouldn't benefit the goal of the Syndicate… Yes, yes… Later…" He quickly whispered some replies.

He looked at the group again and gasped: the whole place had been turned into a recreation of the Antarctic landscape and all berserk Navis had been trapped inside of ice clusters: the three Navis were nowhere to be seen.

"Damn. That guy's "Antarctic Stage"…!"

He began to follow the trace left behind and heard a commotion coming from further inside: he seemed to form a smug smile as he spotted the three Navis fighting against something surrounded in a cluster of blackness and which was jumping up and down like wild.

"Damn! This thing again…!" Rock Man hissed.

"If only it stayed quiet we could kill it with just one Vaccine Chip blow: what happened in August won't repeat! And this thing is sucking up all energy of the ECS to grow stronger thus the malfunctioning source is this thing! Another terror recycled from Angband!" "Hack" cursed aloud over the line.

"Vain, vain! You won't beat Shelob just like that!"

"Shaddup." Netto growled.

"You're cheap." Grand told him.

"Cheap! Me!" He got annoyed.

"Yeah. Instead of being something 100% original you're just a corruption of Zero." Grand signaled him with the right hand's index finger.

"All's fair in war!" He claimed.

"And the bomb-rigged car thing was fair too?"

"It wasn't up to me to organize that. That man happened to hire an incompetent imbecile and some cleansing up had to be done before it turned into an ever bigger mess!" He growled.

"And is that "Master" really _that_ powerful or he just uses some cool-looking tricks to fool you guys?" Netto taunted.

"Hmpf! His intelligence is above that of you fools. Not even a Harvard-diploma-owning-professor could outwit him!"

"Come on." "Hack" sounded skeptical.

"Harvard…? Isn't that that prestigious university?" Rock Man sounded surprised.

"Outwit I dunno but defeat his devices we can!" Netto shot back without being impressed.

"Hmpf! Then go ahead: try to stop this plague."

A phone sound rang out and Rock Man quickly patched one call in: Yaito showed up onscreen.

"Hikari – kun! Glyde! Glyde has gone berserk! He's locked me inside of my room and is making all systems on the mansion go crazy!"

"Alright… I'll send a friend's Navi there! Hack! Let Grand go help Yaito while we try to bring this ugly spider down!" Netto grumbled.

"Roger! Can you give me the address?"

"Yeah! Rock Man! Give Grand Yaito's P-Code!"

"Roger! Here, Grand! Catch!" Rock Man announced as he tossed him the P-Code program.

"O. K.! I'll help out the damsel in distress." He giggled.

"This ain't a time to joke, Grand! Please handle it!" "Hack" sounded slightly annoyed at his joke.

Grand logged out while Freeze Man turned the ground into "Ice Stage" while forming "Ice Towers": the mass of blackness surrounding Shelob kept on bouncing around and eventually dropped atop one of the thick and resistant "Ice Towers" which grew in thickness and mass: Rock Man then jumped into the air.

"Vaccine Chip: Go!"

Rock Man shot the white energy sphere at the mass thus dispelling it and making the shape of a gigantic arachnid show up as light surges came out from inside of it along with energy: the monster was deleted and the system's lighting increased.

"… Alright! I stopped the rampaging Glyde…" Grand reported.

"Say, Yaito! Had you sent Glyde outside of the mansion today?" Netto suddenly asked.

"No." Yaito quickly replied.

"Did you download anything strange as of late?"

"Strange? Don't think so… I just looked up the news…" She frowned.

"Hmmm… Did you make any online shopping?" He tried next.

"Nope."

"The program could've been acquired days ago but laid dormant until they awakened it too." "Hack" suggested while sounding like he'd been thinking about the thing.

"Oh. Then that'd explain why they all go berserk all of a sudden but we dunno the prime source of the program… Maybe it's one of those multiple re-sent emails with attached Power Point files…?" Rock Man brought the right hand to his chin.

"It could be like that. It's not unheard of. Criminals have spread malware through the email ever since it became popular." Freeze Man seemed to agree with the line of thought.

"Hmmm… Well, I did get some Power Points which Meiru – chan sent to me but the anti-Virus spotted nothing…"

"Maybe the program sneaks in disguised as a Navi Customizer Program like it was sent to Dekao…" Netto ventured.

"Then that could be it, too… Maybe it has a note saying "I found this cool program: check it out but it's a secret, OK?"…" "Hack" suggested.

"Playing Holmes and Watson?" Black Doom taunted.

"Shut up your megalomaniac archangel of death rip-off." Netto shot at him without stopping.

"Archangel of death? Why not. It sounds ominous enough."

"There you are! Now confess… Where's the clown!"

"Oh damn."

"Shit."

"Original" Forte suddenly landed in front of them while having both "Dark Arm Blades" drawn and looking hostile.

"Look, we're not gonna sell out a friend." Rock Man told him.

"…"Friend"? Hah! As _naïve_ as usual, gnats!" He scoffed.

"Naïve or not the guy's got further brains than you do and he's doing something useful for society. He recognizes you're above him so there, matter settled." Rock Man was unimpressed.

"No! I'm the only one who can exist!"

"Look, I've got my own pirate copy out there but I don't hate him or want to destroy him. We've all got a reverse side and that's something inherent to the world. So go hunt SP Viruses in the Secret Area."

"No! I won't give up! I'll search all across the world!"

"He's not going to get in your way either so search in vain. We've got other things to worry about. And if you want a strong opponent then try to see if that guy's real body is one!" Rock Man turned around yet he signaled Black Doom with his right hand's index finger.

"Let's go heal the Navis there."

"Hmpf… True! You bastard there! Are you so weak that you don't dare to face me?" "Original" Forte taunted.

"I've got my orders."

"Orders? Hah! What kind of fool gives you orders? A human?"

"Of course. He granted me further power. And he's the one who helped my Mistress rise to power to begin with. Weren't it for his collaboration I wouldn't be here today! So I'm grateful to him."

"Hmpf! Then come out and fight!"

"I won't. But I'll give you something. Come out! God Phoenix!"

A large mass of goldenrod flames formed out of nowhere and gave way to a gigantic bird: it climbed skywards and then dived towards "Original" Forte setting the ground and him on flames: he roared as the flames traveled across his bodysuit and burnt his cloak: Black Doom laughed in a victorious tone of voice.

"Feel the punishing flames of the God Phoenix! Your whole person will be burnt out! Mwah, hah, hah! Agony! Experience the slow and never-ending agony before deletion! Wander in Hell as a grudge –filled soul!"

"Mwa~rgh! This won't be enough…! Damn it! Retreat!"

He managed to open the purple gateway and escaped inside while Black Doom kept on laughing…

12:14 PM (Japan Time)…

"… This area is safe. All Navis have been purged save one which we'll bring to the Science Labs for quarantine and study. Maybe we can find out the prime source even."

"Good idea, guys."

Freeze Man, Grand Rock Man returned to the Science Labs bringing a security Navi trapped inside of an ice mass along with them: some Navis helped them carry him to another section of the Cyber World and the analysis began.

"Hmmm… Aha-hah! Found it… The program entered him exactly 16 hours ago when he received an email with an attached audio clip titled "M's preview"… The email's original sender is Bruteztrausen tirania dot de which is Germany's Internet domain… Tirania is derived from the Spanish "tiranía" or "tyranny"… And "Bruteztrausen" seems to be an attempt to Germanize "Brute"… Sounds like a parody even… Anyway: let's see what Mr. Google can tell us…" Meijin listed as he quickly typed into the keyboard and read the information.

"Not much…" Barrel shrugged.

"Well. That "not much"… He's supposed to be the ruler of "Tirania" in the Spanish comic book _Mortadelo y Filemón: El Sulfato Atómico_… Written by _Don_ Francisco Ibañez… Published in 1969!"

"1969! That's AGES ago!" Netto whistled.

"What about the sound clip?" Barrel was unimpressed.

"Playing it back… Hmmm… Good voice. I've heard it somewhere before, though… Hmmm… M's preview… M… M… Well. There's "M" in the James Bond films… They're going to release the 21st one, _Casino Royale_, starring this new actor Daniel Craig… The last one was in 2002, _Die Another Day_ and the main theme was composed by… Oh by all the!"

"Oh by all the? Is that the group's name?" Dingo asked.

"Course not…" Tomahawk Man skeptically replied.

"Madonna!"

"A _Madonna_?" Dingo asked next.

"Not "a" Madonna: THE Madonna!" Meijin exclaimed.

"The singer?" Freeze Man asked.

"I see! It's powerful bait… She released her album last month yet this audio clip promises to be a preview of her next single! And given her high popularity anyone would like to download it and hear to it so Navis download it and end up being infected…!" Meijin gasped.

"So that's how it was." Barrel muttered.

"Now we gotta find a way to mass-vaccine them and stop the spreading of the program… We should try to mass-send the antibodies: we could have them be easily transferable and removing passwords and such while having the Science Labs logo to prove it's genuine…"

"This will be hard but not impossible."

"Count on us!" Dingo grinned.

"Netto – kun! The auto phone!"

"Ijuuin…"

"Enzan! What's going around there?" Netto asked.

"Pretty bad. I've had to vaccine 97 Navis already."

"We've found the prime source." Netto reported.

"Good job."

"But we need to time to come up with mass vaccines."

"Obviously enough… What do you suggest? Mr. Barrel…" Enzan asked of Barrel.

"Keep at it: and be careful because "Original" Forte is on a mad hunt for "Copy" Forte again… Do not let his location out. That's an order, Ijuuin Enzan!" Barrel told him.

"Delighted. Heard that, Blues?"

"I did, sir."

"Vaccine the Navis and move on but be careful of "Original" Forte: there's a possibility he might show up around us." Enzan commanded.

"Acknowledged."

"Laika… Dark Miyabi and I are purging the whole End Area and the Reverse Internet…" Laika reported.

"Scope Gun!"

"Shadow Blade!"

"Wayward souls." Dark Miyabi merely muttered.

"Keep up the good job."

"Roger."

"Hello? Shirakami… I'm cleansing our district too and I found Number Man running amok so I applied the vaccine to him…" Shirakami reported.

"_Otilio_'s 'ere to round 'em up and plumb 'em up."

"Forte. Stop saying meaningless stuff." Shirakami fumed.

"Ya wanna beat Red Rackham while trying to put out a powder barrel's fuse out?" "Copy" Forte joked.

"No. Be serious. This isn't funny." Shirakami scolded.

"Alright, alright. Yo! Hell's Buster."

"Fight in vain! Fight in vain! All of your struggles are in vain, I say to you guys!" Black Doom taunted them.

"You're uglier than the "thing"…"

"The "thing"…? What's that?" Black Doom sounded surprised.

"Heh, heh. Check out _Monsters_ by Francisco Ibañez… And try not to faint when you see the "thing"…"

"Stop meddling around! Get to work!"

"Sure, Superintendent Vincent."

"This guy…!" Shirakami began to sound like he'd run out of patience by now given his low hissing.

"Hmpf! Companion dispute?" Black Doom taunted.

"Go lick your Master's boots." Barrel icily told him.

"How dare you! My Master is supreme!" Black Doom got annoyed.

"Supreme? In his fantasy-built world, obviously enough…"

"Huh! No! I won't fall for such an obvious trap. Only a weak-minded fool would and I haven't been allowed to live on this long just because Master felt like it: my intelligence is being proven!" Black Doom grumbled.

"We found a set of clothes and a mask for the eyes in a closet plus some kind of curious communications device yet it was all fried and impossible to use… Yet those clothes had the number "5" painted golden on it: and they weren't sports clothes." Barrel suddenly let out.

"So what?" Black Doom played the unimpressed.

"You weren't expecting us to find them but this has given me the suspicion that there's someone else _behind_ that guy… That "Towa" figure we've been chasing ever since August, then?"

"And what if? It could be Sate Pestage for all you know."

"Sate Pestage…? Odd name." Netto frowned.

"… Close advisor to Emperor Palpatine… This guy is quoting names from the _Star Wars_ universe…" Meijin reported.

"Well then… _No pain no gain_! I'll be looking on to try to see if you can stop this unleashed Apocalypse. Who will be left standing in the end? And something even BIGGER is about to jump into the stage…"

Laughing in an insane manner, Black Doom apparently vanished while Barrel formed a face which said it all: he was ready for anything…


	12. Chapter 12: T Syndicate

**Chapter 12: T Syndicate**

15:55 PM (Japan Time), Monday December the 20th…

"… Doctor T. Are we to assume that the schedule has been speeded up and that we are to jump into Stage 3?"

"Indeed, gentlemen. All defense forces have their hands busy across the world trying to quarantine these outbreaks. Even the Ameroupe military departments have their hands tied… NATO, UN… Both are desperate and unable to properly react… A proof of how foolish humans have become by depending on the Network… They no longer know how to strike back at an immaterial enemy!"

"Well said!"

"Yea! He speaks the truth: I have seen that lax attitude in all of my trips into foreign lands."

"Thank you for your confidence in me, gentlemen. Like you have guessed, Stage 3 is to be initiated. Set all assets into standby mode and prepare to move to the final stage in the next 72 hours."

"The next 72 hours… Finally! Years of planning are coming to fruition! And once we reach "Ground Zero" then everything will flow naturally… There'll be no visible change but we'll be influencing the morale of this nation and that of the Diet from behind the scenes…"

"Such is the goal of us T Syndicate…"

"Doctor T" was holding a conference with the other 7 "Administrators" who sounded eager and amused while he spoke in a soft and charismatic tone of voice as if he was just commenting the weather: the other "Administrators" were getting excited and were chatting to each other while "Doctor T" remained silent.

"We wouldn't have been able to come this far without Doctor T who approached each of us and assembled the T Syndicate to unite our cause into one… Yet Admin 5 was an ill choice in the end. But sometimes sacrifices are needed for the greater good!" Admin 3 exclaimed.

"Truth is… I was hoping to use Admin 5's influence into other VPs to draw them into the picture and gain resources yet he didn't handle it properly enough and was beginning to get forbidden thoughts."

"He wouldn't have dared to…!" Admin 8 gasped.

"Replace me, true. But his attempts were impaired by the very secrecy I imposed on our meetings: none of you have seen my true face and know not my age or place of origin or any other name besides my humble medical title. Yet I don't know your real names either because I learned of you through some circles and connections… Yet I will always admit openly that I was an executive within the "Secret Empire" lead by the ever magnificent IQ." "Doctor T" admitted.

"What need is there to know anything else, anyway? The less we know the lesser risks of filtrations or leaks… We all end up benefitting!"

"Exactly, Admin 4." "Doctor T" confirmed.

"Yet it was so intelligent to exploit the plebeians' manias to lead them into their doom and chaos… All was timed splendidly!" Admin 1 laughed.

"True! Given them what they wish and they won't question the source or double-check the data: they're so gullible! Just to get to hear to a 60 second preview of a song they've ended up paving the world to the greatest epidemic in the history of the Cyber World!" Admin 7 exclaimed.

"And your personal agent is proving to be a must-have force: the way he embellished the deaths of the foolish Admin 5 and that nameless executioner was brilliant… We know Doctor T thought of it yet only someone like him could carry out in such a calm and cold – blooded manner!" Admin 6 sounded satisfied.

"In fact I drew inspiration from Mr. Henning Mankell's novels: imagine a cold-blooded mind capable of preparing a suitable trap by taking advantage of the terrain… They saw some wood planks set over a small crevice to the point they immediately break and the victim plunges into a forest of bamboo skates but which they don't piece them… It traps them into a position into which they eventually painfully die from asphyxia!"

"Terrific!" Everyone sounded amused.

"Heh, heh, heh… Well then… Let us sit back and enjoy the spectacle of mankind's collective desperation while the gears of our goal move on towards the immediate future…"

"Let us!"

A holographic globe of the Earth formed displaying several purple dots scattering across it and lists of countries plus how many cases had been detected there.

"The program will keep on awakening in its hosts and even if they don't spread the infection a single parasitic host is enough to cause sufficient damage… And blame will be quickly diverted to a group of believable scapegoats… I have arranged to make it look like I am the one leading their efforts and thus the reason behind their radical changes in the overall strategy…"

"The "Common Patterns"… What fools! Trying to halt the progress of society and at the same time trying to erase the "self" to make them become a "mob"… They must think we're the worker bees in a hive and they are the monarchs! Hah! I laugh at them!" Admin 6 sounded unimpressed.

"Is that so? That's what they think they can do? Come on! How do you destroy the "self"? All humans are born with it! You can't destroy something immaterial! You might repress it and such but it'll eventually surface again! 40 years! They've been chasing a fool's dream for 40 years in vain! And there comes the "Committee"… To counter their efforts and wage a war involving proxies and cutting off the influences of that bunch of decrepit idiots who won't just die quietly!" Admin 3 laughed.

"Walking mummies: that's what they are, gentlemen!"

"You are right, Admin 1! I, Admin 8, agree on the fact that those people are foolish and idiotic. The "Committee" however seeks to place tabs on organized crime and acts like a private espionage agency, like the "shadow CIA" Stratfor is!"

"Yet they depend on no government even though they share the information with "stable" governments, especially with the CIA and such given how some of their executives used to be in Ameroupe intelligence agencies or European ones… Heck, I've heard that there's even a former GRU colonel there!" Admin 1 told the others.

"A GRU colonel! That's intriguing."

"Isn't it, gentlemen? Do excuse me for a moment: I want to hear a status update from the field…" "Doctor T" smiled.

He apparently pressed a button on one of the armchairs and the holographic image of Black Doom showed up on the spot where Admin 5 had used to be at while kneeling.

"Black Doom. I assume there's movement in the RZ Front?"

"Indeed, Master! They're pitting all of their forces but the Balrogs seem to be evenly matched for each other… All other infantry is destroyed in the energy release generated by their violent fighting! The flames of Hell unleashed are making both sides sweat: it's obvious that they'll come to a stalemate and none will wield to the other." He reported.

"Excellent. What do those guys think?"

"They've realized that at this rate their conflict will get stuck and that the big bosses will lash out at them about wasting so much money on these things when the only thing they've managed to is to keep the conflict locked with both sides unable to win or lose."

"See, gentlemen? Those two belligerent nations could've proven to be quite some eyesores for our projects but by manipulating their greed and ambition to possess a weapon capable of destroying their rivals in one blow we've managed to remove them from the picture altogether and blame the "Common Patterns" again… Those guys will eventually fade out but there are plenty of small parties with connections between each other which can be used as other scapegoats in their instead. All is going according to my calculations."

"Bravo!"

"Thank you for your support, gentlemen."

"Incidentally… The total number of infections to the moment is 10.483 Net Navis." Black Doom reported.

"Over 10.000! Excellent! I can taste the chaos!" Admin 1 laughed.

"I can taste the despair of the NATO imbeciles." Admin 3 grinned.

"Let the UN swallow its pride and sink alongside it!" Admin 2 rallied.

"The Marines will blame the NSA or the NRO for trying to play with fire and actually lighting a fire." Admin 4 observed.

"My. I hadn't thought of that one. That would delicious to see: public opinion would lash out at them and there'll be endless debates in both Congress and Senate. Heads will roll in the White House." "Doctor T" stretched slightly backwards and seemed to lean his hands' fingers against each other while aiming his hands upwards.

"May I quote something? A fake Far West seer to the local Sheriff… "I see a great future for you… You lead a populace, a nation… I see a garden full of roses… I see a white house…" … "You mean THE White House?" … "Yes!" … "Well then, I see a penitentiary, window bars and forced labors"…" Admin 8 quoted.

"Ah. _The Cursed Ranch_, an album of Lucky Luke's adventures… The man faster than his shadow…" "Doctor T" sounded amused.

"I guess we're not needed anymore. We'll return to our duties and remove all logs of these transmissions. We must work on the Phase 3 preparations while we can." Admin 1 cleared his throat.

"For the glory of the Emperor!" Everyone exclaimed.

Black Doom and "Doctor T" were left alone and the villain seemed to smirk while Black Doom didn't change his pose.

"Emperor… Hah! Let them keep up with their goals: mine is to rescue the former Monarch of the "Secret Empire"… Ice Queen – sama!"

He laughed aloud inside of his room…

15:37 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Here it comes! Vaccine Shockwave!"

"This new program also destroys the "Dark Power" by its own power so we don't have to destroy it by our hands… And with this we've cured 836 Net Navi but about ten times that number is left…"

Shadow Man and Search Man were standing atop a ramp leading to an avenue somewhere in the Cyber World when a bluish/white shockwave of energy formed at one point and spread in a very wide radius knocking all Net Navis present out and obviously purging them.

"At least by now we'll surely be able to prevent further infections by having chased down all non-active copies of the prime source and destroying them…" Shadow Man muttered.

"Yeah. Today's going to be one of those long days. Let's hope all this mess is solved before Saturday evening." Search Man hoped.

"Obviously… There are going to be serious consequences to all of this business… Things won't be like they were before: if these guys want to prove they're more dangerous than the WWW, Gospel and Nebula put together then they're doing a damned well job." Laika grumbled as if to vent his annoyance.

"And I'm tired of that lapdog not fighting us directly: that guy wants to incite us to rush it up and end up in a trap by taunting us via those 3D images…" Dark Miyabi muttered.

"Sector purged!" Meijin reported.

"Dark Kirisaki… I've cleansed another sector with 1492 souls on it… This is starting to remind me of the _Biohazard_ games…"

"Biohazard? That franchise about artificial organic viruses which turn people into zombies, you mean?" Dark Miyabi asked.

"Yes, My Master… Besides, that Black Doom jerk mentioned "Raccon City" and that's one important place in the games… I'd stake anything that he's been seeing videos of all the games."

"Excellent deduction, Holmes!" Black Doom's taunting voice rang out over Dark Kirisaki's channel.

"Damn it."

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah! Festival! Bloody festival! I'm gonna slaughter this guy here and now!" Killer Man laughed.

"Wait, Killer Man. That's a 3D image. You can't harm them."

"Wha~t? Damn it! Show your real hide, you bastard!"

"_You_ show your real hide, Carnival filibuster." He taunted.

"Oi! You're into _Tintin _too? What a coincidence!" "Copy" Forte announced over the radio.

"Coincidence? No. It's not a coincidence. Habits which come and go: that's all." Black Doom dully replied.

"Oi! Come down and fight!"

"No. I'll give you something else to fight, though. Go, Circus Man!"

"Fu – ru – ru! Gloom Pinch!"

"What!"

Circus Man's "tent" suddenly formed over Killer Man and the sound of a scuffle rang out followed by yells.

"I'll get there." Shadow Man announced.

"Fine."

Shadow Man quickly warped and jumped across sections until he reached the Yokohama Network full of knocked out Net Navis: he spotted Killer Man in violent fighting with Circus Man.

"Fire Ring!"

A metallic ring with a supporting base formed and turned on fire: a lion leapt out of it but Killer Man merely summoned his phantoms to intercept it: he then charged up and swung the sickle to cut the ring.

"Hell's Sickle~!"

The energy shockwave travelled across the ground and hit Circus Man thus inflicting an HP bug on him.

"Killer Death Beam!"

"Kya~h!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h! Festival! Bloody festival! It's time to weed the rotten garbage~!" He laughed as he swung his sickle around like mad and cutting up Circus Man.

"Maybe it wasn't necessary to rush here in the end… But one should not be confident of victory just yet." Shadow Man muttered.

"Catching up?" Black Doom taunted as he hovered over him.

"So you now are bringing deceased Net Navis back from the Graveyard: how unoriginal." Shadow Man taunted back.

"I prefer to call it "recycling"."

"BURN! Burning Jet!"

"Hmpf…"

Shadow Man got hit by someone but he vanished and left a log on his place: he leapt into the air and shot down four _shuriken_ in a row thus hitting Burner Man and stopping his movements.

"OI! I'm Homura Akki and I wanna know where the blue brat is at! Or else I'll set this whole area in flames! That of February was unfair! I can't have lost: that red-bearded old man cheated!" Homura Akki yelled.

"Hmpf… I lost to him twice yet he fought fair." Shadow Man replied.

"Wha~t? Where's the kiddo!"

"Need Not To Know." Dark Miyabi replied.

"Who the hell are ya?"

"Dark Miyabi… Assassination specialist…"

"A-assassination s-specialist!" Homura gasped.

"I'm surprised no – one put a bounty on your neck yet."

"Oh damn!"

"However… If you want to prove you are strong then be our guest. Shadow Man. Just give them a little reminder."

"Roger, My Master."

"You _oni_ freak. Want me? Chase me!" Black Doom taunted.

"Wha~t? Damn you~!"

Killer Man got into a foul mood and ran after the 3D image while Shadow Man was having no trouble attacking Burner Man while dodging his burners as they moved across the field: Burner Man began to swear aloud but Shadow Man paid no attention.

"Shadow Clone. Shadow Blade."

The four Shadow Men attacked Burner Man with his swords and easily brought him down: Shadow Man then leapt at a safe distance while Burner Man roared.

"Don't get cocky~! Burning Jet!"

He tried to accelerate and ram into Shadow Man but ended up hitting an "Ojiouzan" statuette instead and got electrocuted.

"This can't be!" Homura cursed.

"Got it, you fool? You lost because you're weak and you can't come up with a proper battling strategy. Now vanish. We're busy enough trying to avoid global cataclysm." Dark Miyabi dully told him.

"Damn it! I'll find that blue kiddo and have my payback!"

"Try it but you'll be defeated very fast. He won the "Red Sun Tournament" too so he's legally one of the strongest international Net Battlers."

"Damn it!"

"They fled… Wayward souls!" Dark Miyabi shrugged.

"One who doesn't admit their own weaknesses is a fool." Laika muttered without sounding surprised at all.

"… Huff… Huff… Damn the crimson-haired punk! Had me chase after him only to be attacked by that Element Man guy… But I managed to slaughter the guy!" Killer Man reported as he ran back in.

"That's what happens when you dance to the enemy's flute tune." Dark Kirisaki scolded him.

"Gimme a break, Kirisaki~!" He grumbled.

"Good news… A major sector in Choina has been cleared of the 3185 souls there… There's less than 3000 left worldwide and at this rate we could be done in about three to four hours." Barrel reported.

"Phew! At least we're getting somewhere." Laika sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I know. At least we didn't have to drop a nuclear missile into Raccoon City to fully sterilize it and avoid the "T-Virus" from spreading to the rest of the nation…" Dark Kirisaki told them.

"Yikes. Yeah. We should be glad." Even Laika gulped.

"I'm going to spend the rest of the day resting." Enzan admitted.

"Hmpf…" Laika grinned.

"No. You're not into the picture today. Commander or whatever I decide the time." Enzan quickly told him as if reading his mind.

"So, Ijuuin. You've become a mind-reader?"

"Whatever. Let's wrap up already! My fingers ache and I'm feeling so stressed!" Enzan grumbled.

"I need some hours of seclusion in the mountains myself… Only there I can really disconnect. But before that I'll have some _ramen_."

They didn't notice Black Doom spying on them from afar and chuckling under his breath…


	13. Chapter 13: Evening brawl

**Chapter 13: Evening brawl**

19:49 PM (Japan Time), Monday December the 20th…

"… We're home~…"

"Netto, Yuuichirou – san… Welcome back."

"Thank you… We're beaten."

"No wonder! I saw the news."

"Yeah. My eyelids feel heavy…"

Netto, Yuuichirou and Rock Man looked about to collapse from their tiredness when they got home: Haruka made a weak smile.

"You've done a great job, everyone. I've prepared some noodles for supper tonight." She smiled at them.

"Yum! Yummy…" Netto began to day-dream.

"While you have supper please transfer me to the Copy Roid… I need to stretch out." Rock Man requested with a yawn.

Netto headed upstairs and aimed the PET at the Copy Roid standing in the middle of the bedroom.

"Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"

Rock Man transferred to the Copy Roid and became Saito.

"I'll help set the table…" He announced with a yawn.

"No, I'll do it. I gotta be responsible."

"Fine… Night…"

"Say! Do Navis dream of Cyber Sheep?" Netto suddenly grinned.

"Come on… You picked that from "_Do Androids Dream of Electrical Sheep?_" by Philip K. Dick…" Saito grumbled. 

Netto grinned and closed the door on the way out while Saito looked rather skeptical at the question…

20:07 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Shirakami! How's it going with Hikari?"

"Forte. I don't butt in your stuff so don't butt into MY stuff."

"Man! It ain't like I'm asking you to lend me 1,000Z!"

"I don't like your poor humor sense."

"Poor humor sense? You could patent that!"

"Hah, hah. Don't make me laugh."

"Copy" Forte began to pull jokes on Shirakami who greeted them with total skepticism and being unimpressed: he had a dull look to his face while "Copy" Forte was grinning.

"You want to feel him inside of ya again?"

"For the last damned time: don't butt in my stuff."

"You talk like ya were 22 years old instead of 12, ya know."

"Well, I'll be damned. I'm Rock Man's "Reverse Side"! I'm supposed to be a total antithesis to him not only in power but in behavior."

"Or maybe you're becoming too Occidental?"

"Maybe."

"Mr. Lawyer showed up with the 5:55 PM express from Liverpool, Lestrade?" He joked.

"Ask that to a passer-by."

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP

"The perimeter sensors!"

Shirakami rushed into the store's main room and activated a monitor to look into the outside: Black Doom could be seen walking towards the side entrance at a confident pace and having his sword drawn.

"He's come to take the _katana_ back, I guess."

"But didn't you hand it to Mr. Barrel?"

"Yeah. Sure I did. But he doesn't know. And I guess there must be something there which would be bad for them if the police forensics discovered it so that's why he's been sent to claim it back in the name of his "Master", that "Towa" – something bastard." Shirakami calmly deduced without looking surprised.

"How should we fight the guy?" "Copy" Forte turned serious as he rubbed his chin.

"Going all out won't do. We'll have to sneak on him and go raw punch style, I'd rather say." Shirakami suggested.

"Alright. Let's switch off the lights and hide: I'm sure the guy will be confident to catch us sleeping but maybe he's just supposed to find the _katana_ and head back without causing trouble."

"Good. Let's go."

Both nodded and quickly hid behind a shelf: they heard the power go off and the side door open in a very silent manner followed by "breathing" and soft muffled footsteps: they spotted the purple glow of Black Doom's eyes and the glow of his crimson hair as he came inside of the main store and pulled open a drawer which he quickly closed.

_Like I thought… You came for the _katana_, ugly. But you won't find it here even if ya brought Holmes with ya. Heh!_ Shirakami inwardly formed a smirk given his sarcasm.

_Come, Sam Merton. I'm so gonna scare the hide outta you with my newest perfume with leather and gasoil accords. Heh, heh, heh!_

Black Doom began to look at the shelf behind which Shirakami was hiding and turned away: Shirakami quickly ran out of the shelf and tackled the guy into the ground.

"So! Your Master wants the _katana_ back? You'll have to step over our Copy Roid remains firstly." Shirakami taunted.

"Damn you! Eat this!"

"Not so fast. Eat lower jaw flying kick!"

"Ugrah!"

"Copy" Forte joined the fray and delivered a kick to his lower jaw before quickly lifting him using the right arm and ramming him into the wall: Shirakami delivered a barrage of fisting to his stomach area and he groaned before he warped and appeared two meters behind them with the sword drawn and charging towards them: they jumped sideways just as he hit the wall with the sword yet the two of them quickly tackled each of his legs to throw him into the ground and hold him there.

"So?" Both challenged.

"Damn you!"

Black Doom warped once again and both predicted where he'd materialize at so they tackled him into the ground again and he tried to push them away from him yet Shirakami began to hit his face to distract him while "Copy" Forte hammered the upper part of his helmet.

"… Report." A distorted voice came over Black Doom's radio.

"M-Master. I apologize, sir, I am trying to fend off those two in a raw combat… I must've triggered some kind of perimeter alarm… I'll report in when I find the _katana_…!" He apologized.

"So you're that "Towa" guy, huh?" Shirakami asked.

"Hmpf…"

The radio channel shut down and Black Doom seemed to find newfound strength as he pushed them apart and stood up to try to attack them with the sword but "Copy" Forte's Dark Arm Blades halted him while Shirakami aimed a Super Vulcan at him from behind.

"Not very talkative, right? That "Master" guy…"

"What need is there to engage in fruitless chit-chat?" Black Doom quickly replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ask Chit Chat Man."

"Come on. I don't wanna wake the whole neighborhood 'cause that's not in my orders. Gimme the _katana_ and we'll settle this score sooner or later…" Black Doom told them.

"That's too bad. The _katana_ ain't here anymore."

"What!"

"Kanou Shade has it. He'll bring it to one of his "contacts"…" Shirakami lied with a sneer.

"Yessir. And we'll find out where that thing originated from: we guess it doesn't belong to the collection of that old bastard you killed so maybe you borrowed it from someone else. But I'm sure it ain't something which belongs to your "Master" either… I don't think he's the type to be so careless to leave any hints behind… No. I think the reason he wants it is to avoid us from finding another guy… If the guy you killed had the number "5" then there's gotta be at least number 1, 2, 3 and 4. And there could be more." "Copy" Forte added with a grin.

"Don't get cocky~!" He roared.

"My, my. You're a bad, bad guy." "Copy" Forte grinned.

"More like a mean jerk." Shirakami sneered.

"Shut up! Shut up!"

"Wait. Priority shift: chase Kanou Shade. If I know the man then the best place to get info is close by… I'll send you the coordinates later. Tactical withdrawal, Black Doom! Every minute counts." The distorted voice suddenly commanded.

"… Roger."

"Questioning me?"

"No, sir!"

He quickly warped out of the room while both lowered their weapons and sighed in relief: "Copy" Forte turned serious and looked at Shirakami who was calm.

"Why did you lie? It ain't like you…"

"Heck. Knowing Kanou Shade he's surely almost impossible to locate so I'm sending him into a wild chase and in the meanwhile I buy time for the police to finish their forensic analysis." Shirakami grinned.

"Oh! You've got a point… Really. You outsmart me from time to time even though I'm the one who gave you this body." "Copy" Forte whistled in surprise.

"Meh. I just get bright ideas from time to time."

"Alright… Let's fix the mess so that we can open up normally tomorrow but I guess not much people will be coming: they will be trying to see if their Navis get back to normal."

"Alright."

The sound of a phone rang out and Shirakami headed for the phone behind the counter: he picked it up.

"Hello? Cosplay Brothers' Battle Chip Store…"

"Barrel… We've got the forensic results of the _katana_ Black Doom forgot the other day… We've identified its owner… A Diet member… Head of the conservative party… Janou Kaitai, 63, Kyoto resident… We showed photos to the VP we'd questioned and he recognized him from the party: he was different in the matter that he didn't seem interested to join the party and left a few minutes after the VP… He surely knew yet he might be the type who doesn't allow his persona to fall into those passions and didn't want to become dependent of the corrupt guy…" Barrel explained.

"Speaking of which, Black Doom was just here. I sent him on a fake trail to try to chase down Kanou Shade. We've heard his "Master" over his radio but he wasn't the talkative type. Besides, he had a distorter on so we couldn't tell his age." Shirakami reported.

"Hum. I see. You wanted to buy time to finish the analysis… I'll say "thanks" this time around…"

"Alright. Anything else?"

"We've told the Kyoto police to call him to questioning tomorrow morning yet two plain clothes agents have been sent to watch his flat. The bird might try to flee." Barrel added.

"Good thinking. But it might be too late by now even." "Copy" Forte warned.

"I don't think so… He was in the Diet this morning for the usual debate when they started to go into panic as all systems in the building went berserk and they had to be evacuated. There was a TV crew there and police: the guy was in the capital the whole morning and then picked the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. He then went into his flat and hasn't been seen going out: we started to watch him because the VP told us about him and then the forensics results came in."

"I see. Of course: disappearing just like that would bring attention to him and so will him being called to questioning…" Shirakami caught up with their line of thought.

"We'll just say he's been found guilty of some tax evasion."

"Alright. But don't be surprised if Black Doom shows up there soon enough to retrieve the _katana_…"

"Heh. I foresaw this. But since the forensic analysis is over then we've got no further use for it… Just to annoy him I bought some cheap imitations at a bazaar… And mixed all of them. Let's see him trying to discern which is real because I've painted them with fake blood too." Barrel formed a smug smile.

"Brilliant, _Danna_. The guy deserves it." "Copy" Forte grinned.

"And I'm going to show him he's not all-powerful either."

"Please go ahead. And tell him he has to compensate for the broken side entrance lock." Shirakami sneered.

"My pleasure… Later."

"Heh, heh! That guy is gonna end up getting the biggest scolding on his life tonight!" "Copy" Forte laughed.

20:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Grtjx! I found Kanou Shade only to get told Barrel got the _katana_ and it's surely at the police's forensics department… Enough hide-and-seek games! I'm gonna get that thing!"

Black Doom rammed into a door and made it fall off its hinges into the ground with a loud metallic CLANG sound: he entered a poorly lit room having several metallic cupboards there and some monitors apparently controlling something.

"Hum. The morgue. Those two gotta be here still… It's Monday and that happened on Friday so it's obvious that they're being kept here until someone demands the bodies… Whatever. I gotta find the forensics labs and the _katana_." He muttered.

He headed away and kicked another door open into a room having several large crates: he opened one and found about a dozen _katana_ identical to the one he was looking for.

"What the fuck is this? Barrel! Damn him! He's set this up! Now how do I tell them apart…? Wait! Luminol! It reacts to blood: that should help me spot the real one… Let's hurry!"

He spotted a bottle of Luminol and began to spray the _katana_ with them until one's dried blood glowed: he sighed in relief and took it out from the box.

"Finally."

"Return to the HQ but don't use direct transfer. Go the long way just in case. If Barrel was expecting our movements of tonight then he could've sent people to monitor the borders…" The voice commanded.

"Yeah. I did. Now tell me your name and we're at peace, "Towa" – something…"

The lights suddenly turned on to reveal Barrel holding a FAMAS machinegun on his hands: Black Doom grumbled and ran off as Barrel began to shoot at him.

"Ignore Barrel. Returning is priority one."

"Roger."

Black Doom ran outside of the building and down a street only to find the riot squad police having set up an ambush and aiming spotlights at him forcing him to shield his sight.

"Use the jet-pack!"

"Roger!"

He formed a jet-pack and flew upwards and into the sky only to be rammed by Tengu Man.

"That's Tengu Man! Barrel! Damn you!"

"Che. I wouldn't have thought he could've set this up after this day's mass chaos… I've underestimated the guy's stubbornness… Should've seen it coming from a man raised by Wily!" The voice grumbled.

"No wonder, Master! Wily tried to win with the WWW _thrice_ before he had to give it up for good… And he used "Gospel" to that end as well: he knew no end!" Black Doom agreed on it.

"Can't be helped! I'll use the express way. I need two minutes to load it: try to remain more or less around that spot. Infecting Tengu Man is a waste of energies: he surely has antibodies. Try to defend yourself but pull a "Dark Chip" on the guy." The voice commanded next.

"Roger, Master!"

"I'm shutting down the line just in case. Two minutes."

"Acknowledged… Come! Tengu Man!"

"Tengu Dive!"

"Dark Wide!"

Black Doom shot a "Dark Wide" attack at Tengu Man as he dived for him and chained him three consecutive sword attacks: he then began to deliver a barrage of punches using his left fist.

"About one minute has elapsed… Gotta shake this guy off or even the express way won't work… Hmmm… Heh. Gotcha… Let's wait until the last moment…" He muttered while Tengu Man was out of hearing range and thinking aloud.

He kept on sparring with him and he suddenly cut a high-voltage wire which began to fall towards the center of the riot police vans: Tengu Man gasped and dived towards there to stop the cable from hitting the ground while Black Doom shot upwards and suddenly vanished with a very bright purple flash which forced the ground personnel to close their eyes for a second.

"Black Doom's IR signature is gone! And he isn't anywhere in the adjacent 30 meters! A Navi's max warp distance is 5 meters!" One officer reported after looking at the radar.

"He ran, huh… But at least we've got a lead: we're gonna catch that man and press him hard with our evidence: if we add Kanou Shade's detailed report he won't be able to laugh at us." Barrel grumbled.

"But _how_ did Black Doom escape?" Inspector Gumere wondered.

"That purple flash thing maybe is part of some remote warp system: maybe it's a technology based upon Net Navis' "Warp Points" and allows for easy retrieval… We've lost tonight's round but tomorrow morning we're gonna get our counterstrike chance." Barrel shrugged.

"True. Let's go back to the HQ and try to rest a bit or else we won't be in shape for what's to come tomorrow…"

"Acknowledged…"

They failed to spot a figure looking at them from a distance using binoculars: the figure lowered them and looked annoyed.

"_Shachou_… That purple flash thing… Ain't that…?"

"Yeah… No doubt… "Towa" is one of the former 3 Administrators…! It's become a personal conflict now…!" A voice replied over the radio.

The figure merely nodded in agreement and looked on…


	14. Chapter 14: Return of the tyrant

**Chapter 14: Return of the tyrant**

09:19 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 21st…

"… I hope there is a good reason for this. I should be on my way to Tokyo to attend the Diet… I had to send my secretary instead."

"There is a good reason indeed. It involves your relationship with the deceased Akuo Menioshita and his parties."

"What parties?"

"You've been to his manor."

"What evidence do you have?"

"A witness."

Inspector Gumere and Barrel had come to witness the interrogation of the man known as Janou Kaitai: he looked on his 60s with some grey patches on his hair plus brown eyes.

He wore a simple black suit with a brown tie, pants and shoes and had reading glasses on: he was acting the offended one.

"And we have this report…"

One officer handed him a folder and Janou began to read it: he immediately gasped and his jaw hit the floor: he began to sweat next as he read through it and looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any moment now.

"B-b-but t-this…! I-impossible…! N-no way…!" He uttered.

"So you admit such things happened there. And that the other guests were important VPs… Here's the list too."

"Damn it! You're dragging us down with you, Admin 5!"

"So the "5" was part of the code-name "Admin 5"… And you've gotta be another "Admin" too working for "Towa"…"

"Towa? Don't know!"

"Well. Maybe he uses another name. For the master of Black Doom: I'm sure you know who he is." Barrel pressed.

"I d-don't know anything!"

"Ah no? According to the house's staff you were a regular guest: but only once you were seen going to the basement. All other times you excused your person and headed back… You didn't find a passion in that or found it amusing either, right?" Barrel attacked next.

"W-who are you?"

"Barrel. Former Ameroupe Army Network Unit Commander…"

"W-Wily's son!" He gasped.

"_Adoptive_ son. His real son was Regal. Don't mistake us."

"I thought you'd died in Cyber City!"

"So did everyone. But both Wily and I survived. I guess someone wanted Wily to atone for his actions while I still had a world to live on given Colonel and Iris' sacrifice… But that doesn't involve you. What's the name of your organization?" Barrel shrugged.

"I won't tell!"

"Well. No problem. We can perfectly arrest you on proven grounds of cooperating in bribing, cooperating in abuse of minors and tax evasion so…" Barrel let out.

"That's impossible! I have diplomatic immunity!"

"I don't think the Diet will be happy to grant it when they hear you were bribing people and performing tax evasion. We could leak your yearly income to the press: there'd be a nice scandal there when the public sees that you get more money than the Vice Prime Minister. And Akuo earned even more than the Prime Minister."

"H-how can you know all of that?"

"We've got sources."

"What sources?"

"Need Not To Know."

"I demand to know the sources!"

"Well. If you insist… A man named Kanou Shade. I dunno if you've heard of him but he was pretty much feared in the underground…" Barrel dully told him.

"What! Then how does that source have any validity?"

"Because he helped bring down the ones ruling the whole business and gathers information for us police to benefit from at no cost in exchange: that's why he's a trustable source." Barrel told him.

"Damn it! And now you want me to end up dead too?"

"We've got the means to hold Black Doom at bay: not even he can defeat 5 Net Navis with high battle strength alone."

"I won't say anything!" He grumbled.

"Fine. For the time being we'll find you a cell before you're interrogated by the prosecutor. Call your lawyer but once we make him see the info we have they'll know they have no way of fighting the inevitable and that it'll be a wasted effort." Barrel calmly stood up and headed for the door as if to signal the interview was over.

"T Syndicate!"

"Ah. So you now feel like it. Good." Barrel turned around and closed the door behind him yet his expression didn't change.

"We're the T Syndicate…! There were 8 Administrators but now we're 7 although getting rid of Admin 5 was necessary! The man was starting to go wild and there was no way to keep him under check! So when he failed the assignment of the bomb-rigged car we had the perfect excuse to get rid of him! He wasn't fit for the greater mission he'd have to tackle soon, anyway!" He confessed in a rush.

"And which rank do you have?"

"I'm Admin 3!"

"And apart from the Administrators there's the Boss."

"Doctor T!"

"Doctor T and T Syndicate… What does "T" stand for?"

"I really don't know! He set the whole business up and approached us via holograms to make us pool intelligence, connections and resources together to achieve a common goal…!"

"To rule the world?" Inspector Gumere questioned.

"No! We're not so foolish! What we want is a return of the pure Japanese politics! The _Kokutai_ spirit! The nationalism! Our glory!"

"In short: go back to the times before WWII… And you all have some connections there to influence the politics."

"Yes! We're not aiming to carry out a _coup d'état_… What we want is for the Emperor to regain his powers and return to being the real authority as he'd historically being instead of a figurehead! That's the greatest humiliation they did to us! The Emperor must lead us from this chaos and into a glorious future! Expel the invaders from Okinawa!" He suddenly stood up and began to boast.

"And the worldwide plague incident was the means to distract us and to start moving on with the preparations…"

"Correct! But you won't ever locate Doctor T… You found that Admin 5's transmission equipment was destroyed! Right? Well! Given how I suspected something bad could happen I destroyed mine too. And I don't know the names or faces of the other Administrators because we all cover our eyes when having a meeting: plus Doctor T wears a gray robe with a hood and stays fairly unlit! We're not just eight imbeciles which you can bring down in one blow!" He exclaimed.

"So it'd seem."

"Then it's pointless to question me!"

"At least we get an idea of what our opponents are."

"Hah! Then know this: they are not opponents you can defeat so easily, you fool! You might catch the 7 of us but what we've started won't be halted at this point. And none of us know the real identity of Doctor T anyway!" He challenged next.

"So what? The WWW was like that too. I know that quite well, having been the field commander… And that was just slightly over half a year ago: it's pretty fresh to me. The members of "Gospel" barely knew or didn't know each other… Princess Pride and Hayami Daisuke were unable to bring important information… And Gauss Magnets kept his trap shut so we didn't have luck there. You guys might aim for something else but I'd stake anything that Doctor T has interests within the Network. Else he wouldn't have bothered to sponsor the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" and to recruit Black Doom. And to organize that whole chaos."

"What! Impossible!"

"No. Not impossible at all. He just uses you as cannon fodder while he builds up his own schemes…"

"Excuse me. But there's a person who wishes to speak with Mr. Barrel immediately… A gentleman named Kanou Shade – dono…" A policeman came into the room after knocking.

"He'd never interrupt this if it wasn't really urgent. Show him in: he mustn't trust wireless communications."

"Roger!"

"Gentlemen, grave news… I've been contacted by one Pennsylvanian penitentiary officer… IQ and her right-hand man vanished from there in a bizarre manner…" Kanou Shade announced as he came in.

"IQ… The ruler of the underground, right?"

"The same nefarious person. I believe "Towa" to be behind it."

"Sure thing. We now know his alias is "Doctor T" and he leads the "T Syndicate"… But we dunno age and anything else."

"If it's the age I'd stake he's around 25. IQ once told me she'd selected three men with the same year of birth and different backgrounds to fill each post… But I don't know their backgrounds. I was just told that but nothing else. No codenames either."

"What! A man around 25? We thought he was on his late 50s or early 60s to have such deep knowledge!"

"All three of us were picked because we had excellent grades in our promotions and the tests proved we had an IQ of over 180. And if one desires to then it isn't very hard to be knowledgeable about several things at the same time." Kanou Shade was not surprised.

"Anyway. We can confirm that "Doctor T" used you guys as cannon fodder and that he is gonna go rebuild the "Secret Empire"…"

"Impossible! The other Administrators will overrule and…!"

"He surely doesn't give a cent for them anymore. I'm convinced that he'll tell them "it was nice fooling you guys but playtime's over so go to Hell and die"…" Barrel made a dismissing gesture as if he didn't think it was that much of a deal.

"This can't be possible! We were so close…! The preparations for the last phase are already underway!"

"But they'll surely be detected by the intelligence agencies and be intercepted anyway. They have their ways of knowing things apart from the Network."

The sound of a cell phone rang out and Kanou Shade took his one out of the pocket.

"Hello?"

"Kanou Shade!" A woman's voice rang out with obvious anger and annoyance.

"Damn. Anaya Maria!" He cursed.

"That's "Ice Queen" for you! You son of a bitch!"

"Ice Queen and whatever. I'm not your dog to yank around the chain anymore. You were never a real "Queen", you're just a wannabe. So "Towa" has restored you to power, huh?"

"Towa? Is that his new name? Whatever. I don't care. But now I've placed a bounty on your head so you won't be able to hide in the underground so easily! Hah!"

"I don't need the underground: I already secured myself a good spot totally unrelated."

"Hah. Higureya's back-store!" She told him.

"Oh hell."

"You've got no place to hide!"

"I'll find one: nothing's impossible. You claimed it was impossible to bring you down. It happened."

"I'll have your head in a silver platter along with that other traitor's head: I gave you power and thanks to it you've come this far and this is how you reward me? I should've thrown you into the pits to be fed to the lions instead!" She exclaimed.

"I would've come somewhere by my own means anyway. Trying to control the usual prostitution stuff, drugs and such is something which happens everywhere and it can't be stopped. But destroying the lives of minors just for money and power is unacceptable." He grumbled.

"Money is everything!"

"That's true but it only leads to lust. Only someone without ambition can hope to neutralize it. I handle very well with just a little of it when properly used. And just to tell you, Anaya: I'm not alone. I have the support of the police and even your helper must be taking Mr. Barrel into the picture by now." Kanou Shade warned her.

"So what! Dr. Wily's adoptive son is nothing! I'll send assassins after him too and give his head to my faithful disciple! His strategy was absolutely brilliant: as expected of my disciple!"

"I guess you don't know Dark Miyabi." Barrel interjected.

"Who?"

"Dark Miyabi. Assassination specialist. He's pretty well feared so he'll gladly send those wannabes back at their holes without having to sweat at all. Shadow Man's Operator."

"Hah. And you want me to be scared of a _ninja_ wannabe?"

"Do excuse me…" A distorted voice rang out in the background.

"What?"

"Dark Miyabi is a real _ninja_, Your Grace."

"Ah, well. Makes no difference."

"I'd rather say that it does, Your Grace." A man's voice interjected.

"Who gave you permission to speak, Marco? That guy can add the correct information because he has my gratitude. But you're my mouth: you only speak when I want you to!"

"P-please forgive me, Your Grace."

"Izono Marco. So you keep on being the proxy."

"Yeah! My perfect proxy: none of those fools ever got to realize who the one ruling them was!" Anaya laughed.

"Doctor T! Please tell me this isn't true!"

"Hmmm? Ah. Admin 3. Well! You see, it _is_ true. I couldn't care less for that figurehead or the 1930s. My only goal was to use you guys as cover to distract police attention while I designed a way to retrieve Her Grace from that undignified place. The other 6 just got a message from me. I'll play for you too." "Doctor T" sneered.

"W-what message…?"

"… "My fellow Administrators… You guys have done well insofar yet all good things come to an end. Your usefulness if over. Farewell!"…"

"Convinced?" Inspector Gumere was unimpressed too.

"Muwa~h!"

The man suddenly collapsed into the ground along with the chair and one policeman tended to him.

"Shock, sir."

"No wonder." Kanou Shade shrugged.

"I'm not done with you! Where's the other traitor?"

"The other Admin? Dunno. Never met him."

"Truth to be told, Your Grace, I almost disposed of that dog and another two eyesores yet one of those fools failed me. But at least I managed to come up with a good covering up and the ramifications of everything will keep them busy for the months to come."

"Too bad… Yet… No! A sudden death would've been too sweet. I'd like the guy to know before they slice his neck off… Tee, heh, heh."

"As thou desire: it shall be done."

"This is all for now, Kanou Shade, but… You've got less than 24 hours of life left to you! Mwah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

The line finally went dead and Kanou Shade quickly switched off the phone, opened the cover, removed the battery and picked the SIM card which he shattered: he then stuffed another one and turned the phone on again.

"Pre-payment SIM cards… Just in case."

"Good. I'm surprised you were using our old temporary HQ in the Higureya store, though… But how could they know?"

"That is odd. I only came there like twice a week. And I was always rotating the days so to give the impression they were just random visits to buy Battle Chips…"

"Maybe that guy saw you and put two and two together…"

"Could be. Anyway… Gentlemen. I guess we can stop worrying about that rather… hum… ridiculous… scheme of those men and focus on the real culprits. "Doctor T" and Anaya Maria." He suggested.

"Sure thing… This morning just turned uglier. Inspector: are you in good terms with the Densan City police station?" Barrel asked.

"Hum? Oh. I am, yes."

"If it's security then there's already a car with two plain clothes policemen stationed in the obvious spot…" Kanou Shade interrupted.

"Hum. Maybe Ijuuin or Hikari Yuuichirou – hakase requested for that: they could've been a few steps ahead. Anyway. Kanou Shade. Do you think that woman might go for the goal she had before her arrest?"

"Hmmm… Surely yes. No, not "surely"… _Definitely_ yes. One of them might not interest her because the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" did it already yet the other… They could target their neighbor too."

"Then I should try and help to reinforce the vigilance around the district just in case." Barrel announced.

"Call us if you need help." Inspector Gumere offered.

"Thanks for the offer but this is ONBA territory now… We must take care of ourselves. Please wrap the details up and we'll get ready: that woman will eventually act in the long term."

"She knows we will be expecting such a move so she might try a diversion tactic firstly… If we don't stay with the five senses sharp then we're going to run into serious trouble." Kanou Shade warned.

Both Barrel and he came out of the police station through the backdoor to avoid the press in the front entrance before climbing into a normal car: Barrel turned on the engine and began to drive while Kanou Shade remained silent in the passenger's seat.

_Anaya Maria has escaped from her cage… And "Cousin YY" is involved just as I'd thought. "Cousin V" surely was the target of the bomb-rigged car: guess we must unite if we want to outwit those villains…!_


	15. Chapter 15: Complicated spot

**Chapter 15: Complicated spot**

12:48 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 21st…

"… Really… I dunno why ya two bothered to call me to join ya: I'm so bad at chit-chat…"

"But it makes a difference."

"Yeah. And we've got some games in store."

"Videogames?"

"No, no. Not videogames."

"Aw man. You know that I only like videogames…"

"Ah? But what about the "two-sided-game" you do?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"Don't try to escape, Hikari – kun! We know it."

"Know _what_?"

"Jeez. How dense! Your two-party-deal!"

"E~H?"

"Gotcha. Well said, Yaito – chan."

"Meiru, Yaito! What are you up to?"

"Ask Meiru – chan!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Relax… We're just going to increase the level by a little a bit."

"B-b-b-but…!"

"What's wrong? Are you scared?"

"N-no, but… I can't do…"

"No, no… Don't worry. There's no need to do it. In fact you're not going to make contact at all…"

"I don't like the sounds of that…"

Netto was standing in the swimming pool inside of Yaito's mansion while having his school's blue-colored swimming trunks on and leaning his arms on the northern edge: Meiru and Yaito began to direct grins at him and the tone of the conversation made Netto began to look nervous.

"Oh? Don't you do those things with Shirakami?"

"H-h-how do you know THAT?" Netto asked.

"Tee, heh, heh. I have my ways."

"You wanna leak out or what? Are you jealous?"

"No. When it comes to boys on boys then I don't mind: yet I'm going to take a series of precautions regarding my future."

"What?" Netto frowned.

"Jeez! Hikari – kun. You can't think of it now but maybe in a few years' time you'll become one of those depraved guys. So we're going to prevent that with an effective psychology." Yaito shrugged.

"Yeah. Like Yaito – chan said…"

Meiru suddenly walked over to Netto and closed her right hand's thumb and index finger around his lower chin while grinning: Netto gulped and looked behind him.

"No, no. You're not going out, Netto. We're going to play a little game in which you'll learn something important: don't look down on girls."

"Have I ever looked down on you, Meiru?"

"No. But boys eventually do it."

"Eventually… Come on! It's the present which matters!"

"But I want to secure my position so… We can do it nice or we can do it badly: which will you pick?"

"Eh… Well… B-but…"

"I'll be like Shirakami but maybe I'll increase the level a little bit. And you don't need to make contact… Besides, you'll end up gaining new experiences which you can use by the next time you meet with your second lover." Meiru kept on.

"Lover? Shirakami ain't my lover! He's my playmate!"

"They're the same thing. Yaito – chan, please bring the suitcase."

"Roger! Tee, heh, heh."

Yaito climbed out of the pool and picked a silver attaché case from beneath an armchair: she handed it to Meiru who opened it and looked inside yet Netto couldn't see what was inside given how the cover was open in front of him.

"Very well, then… Tee, heh, heh. This is going to be amusing. Ready or not here we come, Netto." She giggled.

Yaito suddenly seized his arms from behind as Meiru placed a thick leather collar on his neck and then took out some rope which she tied above and below Netto's nipples: she then placed his arms behind the back and one atop the other before immobilizing each wrist with rope by tying it into the other arm: she then made the frontal rope go down until it split into two threads which she tied around the borders of Netto's swimming trunks: she also placed a red plastic spheroid with multiple holes and having leather bands on Netto's mouth before adjusting it.

"There. Setup's done. Hmmm?"

She glanced at his swimming trunks and saw the unmistakable shape of his penis which had gotten hard.

"What. You got excited just from being tied up? Maybe you're more of a masochist than I'd thought… That'll make things easier…"

"Tee, heh, heh. And I was the one who gave Meiru – chan the funds to get this: given how it was cash then there's no way to trace it and no – one knows how I used those funds. No – one's gonna come in either. So we have _plenty_ of time to play around." Yaito giggled.

"Like Yaito – chan says… Let's start with some testing."

Meiru took out two plastic clothes pegs colored red and blue and having a small weight at their end which she clipped into Netto's nipples: he closed his eyes and would have yelled were it not for the spheroid.

"Don't worry! You'll soon get used to them and desire them. Now let's go for your favorite toy."

She procured one of those penis imitations identical to the one Shirakami used and turned it on: she began to tease his nipples and Netto would have moaned but the spheroid muffled all sounds: she then lowered the rear part of his swimming trunks and between she and Yaito they pulled him out of the pool to make him lie atop a hammock face-up: Meiru grinned and inserted the toy into his insides: Netto began to shake and move around like wild.

"So Shirakami didn't do this, eh? I guess he preferred to insert the real thing there… No big deal."

Meiru made a smug smile and searched inside to take out something which Netto looked at with horrified eyes: it was another penis imitation but this one had some spots similar to grains over its surface: it had a triangle-shaped piece of leather from where it emerged and three bands to secure it.

"I know what you're thinking. Yeah. That "Witch – Queen of Angmar" used the same device on Roll in the summer. They call it a "strap-on" and it's for us girls to use when we play these games. Don't worry! We're classmates and neighbors: I don't intend to do harm to you. Ready or not here I come… Yaito – chan: secure him using the chain."

"Roger! Tee, heh, heh!"

Yaito took out a chain and linked the front end of the collar with one of the hammock's legs which had a small half-ring built into it: Meiru placed the "strap-on" over her waist area and forced open Netto's legs while pulling him so that his legs were not resting on the hammock and his waist was on the edge of the hammock.

"This may hurt a bit. Get ready."

She began to pump inside of him and Netto closed his eyes while arching his body: Yaito took out another identical vibrator toy and began to make it travel up and down across Netto's length (still hidden beneath the swimming trunks) and around his balls: she giggled while Meiru looked rather amused.

"How does it feel? Didn't Shirakami tell you that two objects of up to 5cm can be stuffed there? Huh?" She challenged.

Netto nodded sideways with the head to indicate negation: Meiru played the resigned.

"My, my. He's gotta be the timid type then."

"Sure thing. He mustn't want to hurt him for fear of being rejected. Yet I wonder if Saito – kun is being jealous of this…"

"Surely he is. Right, Netto?"

Netto nodded vertically with the head while he kept on arching his body: Yaito began to tease the head of his penis while Meiru kept on pumping inside of him.

"You must be feeling like never before!"

The sound of a PET rang out and both girls gasped upon seeing how Netto's PET was vibrating: Yaito quickly reached out for it and headed for a corner of the room.

"Hello?"

"Ah! Yaito – chan… Me, Saito… Netto isn't there?"

"He was. I guess he got lost trying to find the guests' restrooms on his own and I sent two of the staff to find him." Yaito giggled.

"Jeez. Typical of him… Anyway… When you see him tell him that Barrel – san contacted me with important news… "Towa" has freed the "Ice Queen" from the prison she was retained into! Which means Trouble with capital T! Warn Meiru – chan to be careful too!"

"Alright!"

"Later."

Yaito sighed in relief and giggled but Netto had opened his eyes wide and looked afraid upon hearing the news: Meiru, surprised, stopped and removed the spheroid: he coughed and gasped for air.

"So? Who is this "Ice Queen"?"

"Ka… Kanou… san's… old Boss… the ruler of… the underground…" Netto admitted between coughs and gasps.

"Why does she mean trouble?"

"She's a terrific sadist! If you thought the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" was bad enough she looks pale in comparison! That woman kept guys and girls our age trapped in dungeons where they were abused of by pervert men and women!" Netto exclaimed.

"By all the…"

"And she had her sights on doing that to me before Kanou – san managed to dethrone her so it didn't come to happen. But now that she's back to power she'll aiming for me and you…"

"Crap. This can't be good."

"It ain't! It's the worst possible _scenario_! Do you really want to be abused of and tortured without end until you were driven mad?"

"Of course not." She quickly replied.

"So that's' why we gotta be careful around us… She won't come out so suddenly: she must know we'll be expecting her to make a move right now so she'll bid her time…" Netto insisted.

"Alright… So we shouldn't go out alone or we should try to have someone escorting us?"

"Yeah… And don't trust crowds either. They won't doubt to act during the day either… They're very dangerous!"

"Gotcha. But we can go over the details later. Now I wanna hear you moan and beg. But this doesn't make me a sadist, mind you. I'm just helping you go through next experiences… And since your body likes these kinds of games then I'm doing it a favor, you know." Meiru made a sinister smile all of a sudden.

"N-no! Stop it already!"

"Not yet. I want to see you release: you're holding it back because you don't want to do it in front of the audience but you can't expect to fully control that." Meiru giggled.

"Yeah! Let's keep at it, Hikari – ku~n!"

Yaito continued on teasing his penis with the vibrator and Meiru kept on pumping inside of him: Netto moaned and groaned while closing his eyes and clenching his teeth: he suddenly yelled as he arched his body and some white stains flew out of inside the swimming trunks while staining the front of it: he panted and looked rather overwhelmed: Yaito and Meiru stopped and loomed over him.

"Now pledge this: I'll never try to dominate a girl by force."

"I'll never… try to… dominate a girl… by force…" He repeated between pants.

"Do you swear it?" Meiru questioned next.

"I swear…!" He quickly replied.

"You vow to keep this secret?" She asked.

"I'll keep it secret…!"

"Do you promise not to offer resistance and that you will submit to our devices from now on?"

"I promise!"

"Good enough. That's enough for today. Let's wrap up, Yaito – chan, and go home." Meiru looked satisfied as she pulled the vibrating toy out of Netto's insides.

"Roger!"

Meiru undid the knots and stuffed the rope and chain into the attaché case along with the "strap-on", the clothes pegs and the two vibrating toys: she then placed a combinational padlock on the case and handed it to Yaito.

"Keep it safe."

"Piece of a cake!" Yaito giggled.

"C-can I go home…?" Netto asked.

"Sure. But remember: we'll be calling you from time to time during the remainder of these winter vacations. Get it, Netto?"

"Y-yeah… I get it…"

"And we're your mistresses by now so next time you'll address us with the "ojou – sama" honorific." Meiru commanded.

"R-roger, ojou – sama…"

"Alright. Get dressed and go out: make sure to look like nothing odd happened and admit to Saito – kun, if he asks, that you lost your way around the manor." Meiru grinned.

"I know…"

Netto sluggishly stood up, picked his sandals and towel and headed outside of the room: both girls blinked an eye to each other and looked in a good mood.

"That email from that lady was helpful. She did know what she spoke about." Meiru grinned.

"Yeah! I dunno who she was or how she knew that but it worked out nicely enough. Let's go get changed too, Meiru – chan. The next days are gonna be fun." Yaito giggled.

Both girls giggled and came out of the room but they failed to spot a small dragonfly – shaped robot hovering high in the ceiling…

13:36 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And, as you can see, ojoou – sama, I made use of thou teachings and decided to accomplish thou little interest via a simple and smart manipulation…"

"I'll praise you, T. You saw my teachings: and you improved them!"

"Thank you very much."

"Doctor T" (wearing his usual grey robe with a hood) was kneeling in front of a metallic armchair colored black set on a small platform within a metallic and rather unlit room somewhere where a woman was sitting at.

The woman looked on her late 20s or early 30s and had messy orange-tinted hair along with cold blue eyes: an evil smile was drawn on her face.

She wore a red and black leather one-piece suit which started over her breasts and extended downwards in the form of an inverted pyramid.

He arms had long black leather gloves on them: some black mail covered the exposed skin and she also had a pendant with a purplish jewel set on it hanging from her neck: and she had tall black leather boots too.

Her overall height appealed as being over a meter and eighty.

"Are the accommodations alright for thou taste or should I procure something worth of thou figure?"

"Nah. They're good enough. I liked the detail of adding a "dungeon" room too. Have you located that other traitor?"

"Indeed. They're using a building which I have located already... Yet the defenses there and high and the access very complicated. I am still thinking of how to force them to come out."

"Alright. Bid your time: I want to plan slow and fulfilling revenge. I'll have them executed by the gallows: I want them to die in pain."

"Delicious, my lady. If thou shall excuse me I shall proceed with the project: its end result will make humanity realize its foolishness. That I ensure thou."

"I like the sounds of it: don't spoil the surprise for me. But try to procure me some playthings out there."

"Black Doom can take care of that… He can use his 3D images to be in two places at the same time without those Official dogs being able to trace his real location." He bowed.

"By the way. What became of Dr. Regal and Dr. Wily in the end? I know Dr. Regal succeeded in completing the "Heart Server" and "Heart Network" because I did feel its effects back then. And then I heard about the awakening of the legendary Cybeasts and the Cyber City incident…"

"Ah. True, true. Dr. Wily erased the memories of Dr. Regal of the last 10 years to give him a chance to start anew: I assume he had personal regrets over how he'd raised him. And he survived the detonation of the gigantic Copy Roids: he's surrendered for good this time and it would seem they applied him a sentence in community hours…"

"Hmpf… How the mighty have fallen. What about that little kid whom Wily used to lead "Gospel"?"

"Obihiro? He's under ONBA custody somewhere but it'd seem he's helping them out somehow. I don't know the exact details, frankly, and I did not bother to look them up… Given how he's a minor most of his data is classified…" "Doctor T" admitted.

"Alright… I'd like to have that little kid as my next prey. It'll be rather amusing. I'll let those two young girls handle Hikari Netto… They'll do it nicely enough. Tee, heh, heh." She licked her lips in anticipation and sounded evil enough.

"Your will."

"You may go."

"Doctor T" made a reverence and then walked away from the throne while Anaya Maria stood up and picked up a cat-o'-nine-tails whip: she looked at it with lustful eyes.

_Get ready, Obihiro Shun… You're about to become my new prey! Tee, heh!_


	16. Chapter 16: Little snooper

**Chapter 16: Little snooper**

16:56 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 21st…

"… Yum! That was good meal alright."

"So?"

"So… What, Saito – niisan?"

"You got lost in Yaito – chan's house _again_?"

"Well! Can't be helped! The place's a maze!"

"Why didn't you try asking the staff?"

"I thought I knew my way around by now."

"You "thought"… Was it really that difficult?"

"No, but… I thought I'd get on their way."

"You wouldn't. They're there to help the guests too."

"Alright, alright. Lesson learned!"

"Good enough. Now. What do you intend to do?"

"About the "Ice Queen"? I'd rather let Barrel – san and Kanou – san tackle that: I don't want to ever come close to such a villain."

Netto had been muttering about the lunch as he lay face-up on his bed and read a _tankobon_ when Saito loomed over him with an unimpressed and skeptical face.

"Well. That makes sense."

"Come on! They're not types which you can defeat in a Net Battle: in fact I learned that the real world was just not mere Net Battles when Chirol and co tried to attack me once I beat Circus Man for the 2nd time… There, on the World Fair…" Netto sighed.

"Ah. I remember. But you were lucky and they had to run away by jumping down from that spot… They ended up knocked out."

"But the surprise back then was that weird outfit Enzan came up with and I wonder how he managed to get to be the bodyguard to Mayor Cain to begin with. Maybe he used some influence and another and Mayor Cain thought he'd be a martial arts user." Netto frowned.

"I hadn't thought of that but then again I wasn't present when that happened. My memories of that day are blurry given how I jumped to "Bestialize" form twice that day." Saito admitted.

"And what happened to you after you expelled my consciousness from Proto and remained there? Papa later said he found you in a corner of Proto where all assimilated data ended up at…"

"Well. Grandpa had a copy of his lab room there and he was there so we always had something to chat about. He was interested in knowing how the Network had evolved ever since his days and all the technological changes I knew of. Sometimes I admit that I broke down from the thought that I wouldn't be able to reunite with you again but Grandpa was always saying he trusted in Papa being able to decode his letter with the instructions regarding that area. And he sure did." Saito admitted with a sigh and looking elsewhere: it was clear that he didn't like to speak about the topic.

"Sorry! I shouldn't have asked, but… Eh… And what happened to "Original" Forte and Wily?"

"… "Original" Forte managed to break out somehow and Wily was closer to the surface so they retrieved him… But they couldn't find me because I was too deep inside. That's why Grandpa gave us that letter just in case something was to happen to us while inside of Proto."

"Looking back on it now I feel like I've ended up breaking the promise I made to you… I did wake up on my own and finish up the summer homework but… I'm so irresponsible, really…"

"I didn't remember about it by that time either… So that must be why I never picked on that until now…"

"… Well. Enough gloomy talk. Let's switch topics."

"Sure… Hmmm… Do you feel like there's some unspoken deal between Commander Laika and Enzan – kun?"

"Unspoken deal? Huh… Well… Dunno… They both act the cool and rational although Enzan is the one who gets annoyed easily while Laika keeps his behavior under check the whole time… Given how's a Commander then they expect of him to behave as such so…"

"I rather think they get along well enough and that they suit each other as well." Saito grinned.

"Suit each other…? You mean… like we do?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure which of the two started it but maybe Enzan – kun wanted someone cool and such. Maybe he's realized about us and wanted to experience the same." Saito told him.

"Whoa. Enzan and Laika… I find it hard to picture, somehow."

"Heh, heh. So... I must ask something which has been bugging me. Netto: be honest with me. Do I act lame compared to Shirakami?"

"Huh? Eh… No, no! Saito – niisan is my niisan! I couldn't ask of him to do those… eh… games… It's gotta be natural: we like each other! That of Shirakami is because I wanted to help him fulfill his dreams in part and we can manage very well with the whole business…"

"Good. That sounds honest enough… Yet…"

"Yet…? Oi, oi… Don't tell me you want to copy him…"

"No, I don't intend to do that. But I think you're the masochist type given your behavior. Do you know what that means? Netto."

"Eh… Hum… Well. That I like pain and such…"

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter much. I just want you to be honest with me if we want this to continue without trouble. Get it?"

"Yeah. Get it… Saito – niisan."

"Fair enough."

Saito suddenly dived for Netto and captured his lips in a kiss: Netto was taken aback and was caught up with the pace so he joined it out of instinct as he closed his eyes: he then gasped when he noticed how Saito was using his left hand's thumb and index finger to pinch his left nipple and move it around.

_Oh no! I gotta stop him or I'll be found out! _

Netto used his right hand to reach for Saito's right cheek and caress it: Saito stopped pinching Netto's left nipple and suddenly stuffed his hand inside of Netto's boxers to grip his penis: Saito dropped atop Netto who had to let go of his _tankobon_ as Saito's left hand began to crawl under his vest and shirt to pinch his left nipple again: Netto blushed as he noticed how he was getting hard.

_Damn. He caught me with the guard down! Saito – niisan can be sneaky when he wants to!_

They broke apart to breathe in and Saito looked rather amused and had a hint of lust to his eyes.

_Oh heck. More lust?_

"Netto… So Shirakami has decided to go for more, eh? He's done something to your nipples. Clothes pegs?" Saito giggled.

"Yeah…" Netto sighed in defeat.

_Let's make him think it's Shirakami: I don't wanna imagine how he'd react if he knew that Yaito and Meiru now wanna turn me into their plaything and had me vow all those promises…_

"Well then let's see the results of his games."

"Y-you wanna do it here? Mama's downstairs!"

"Don't worry… She's seeing one of her favorite college age movies and we've got about two hours… Heh, heh, heh. You made me feel depressed now I wanna get back to my usual self…"

"Man. That doesn't sound like the usual you." Netto grumbled.

"The usual me? That was Rock Man's behavior: as your Net Navi I had to keep some manners but now nothing can stop me. I always had this personality hidden behind my face: most people didn't see past it because they weren't clever enough." Saito grinned.

"You sound scary now. You're not gonna tell me you've got a double personality." Netto looked nervous by now.

"No. I have "modes" if you wanna call them like that. When I'm in the PET I have "Navi mode" and when I'm outside I have "Saito mode"… Well then! Enough preludes."

Saito suddenly pulled Netto's jeans and boxers down while he unbuttoned the vest and pulled his shirt up: Netto blushed and looked elsewhere while Saito leant closer and began to rub his hands around Netto's body.

"Hmmm… Huh? My, my. So Shirakami switched to rope instead of the leather bands? Or was that your idea?"

"Mine." Netto timidly admitted.

"You're really becoming a masochist _otouto_, aren't you? I'm feeling hard already just from looking at you. I'll go ahead and stuff it inside without preludes: I'm not in the mood for them." Saito giggled.

"Alright…" Netto rolled his eyes.

Saito lowered his jeans and boxers while also unbuttoning his blue sleeveless vest but kept the shirt normal: he grabbed Netto's legs by the hips and suddenly pulled him towards his hard penis: he pushed his way into Netto's insides and he made a slight twitch of pain while closing his eyes and clenching his teeth: Saito began to move in and out while he picked Netto's right hand and closed it around his hardened penis so that he automatically rubbed it.

"I want you to come and make me release." He challenged.

"I know…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"Why are you looking like this is so dull? You want me to tie you up so that you feel in the mood? Or maybe I need to tease you more?"

"Eh! No, no! It just was… so sudden. I didn't have time to switch my mind around…" Netto improvised.

"Maybe this will stimulate you?"

Saito let go of Netto's left leg and used the left hand to grip his balls and hard: Netto yelped and Saito began to pump again: Netto began to get used to the pace and to moan: Saito grinned and loomed his face forward towards him.

"Yeah. That's the kind of face I want to see… When you're riding on the thrill and pleasure… That's what turns me on… That face!"

"Uh-huh… Harder…! Please… Saito – niisan…! Harder…!"

"Harder, eh? That your masochist nature speaking."

Saito began to pump harder and Netto's moans increased in volume: he kept on rubbing his penis automatically without thinking while Saito kept his eyes open and looking at Netto's facial changes.

"That tint of red in your cheeks is so attractive… Your face contracts and widens… You're starting to sweat too… Heh, heh, heh. You can't hide from me, Netto."

"Nii… niisan… Saito… niisan…" He moaned.

"You gotta be about to release by now. Let it come out then!"

"Huh!"

Netto gasped as he suddenly released and stained his upper torso and part of his face: his released tightened his insides' muscles and Saito gasped as he released and filled Netto's insides: both panted but Saito recovered sooner: he suddenly gasped in surprise and looked around like he'd noticed something: he looked towards the PC and spotted something atop the screen: he quickly pulled up his jeans and fastened them before he rushed over there and caught something.

"What the heck? A mechanical dragonfly?" He wondered aloud.

"D-dragonfly…?" Netto asked as he looked over there.

"You're not gonna tell me this thing was spying on us. There's a pervert loose out there or…" Saito looked at it with building annoyance.

"Or…?"

"Or the "Ice Queen" sent this to spy on us!"

"What!"

"I'm a Navi so I can hear frequencies humans can't: I was hearing the hum of this thing's circuitry and transmissions… The signal has a very high wavelength, over the Giga Hertz band… So it's gotta be using mobile telephony waves, Wi-Fi or satellite uplink." Saito explained before beginning to think aloud.

The dragonfly suddenly shot out from Saito's hand and flew at top speed towards the wall: it hit it and got shattered into pieces which dropped into the ground: Saito grumbled and picked them up.

"Lovely. I hope they weren't recording this. They could try to blackmail us with that." He cursed.

"Doesn't it have any marks?"

"Hmmm… No. And no serial numbers either: they seem to have been painted over. That Doctor Towa – something jerk is very maniac in not leaving any traces behind." Saito fumed.

He left the pieces next to the computer and then climbed back into the bed: he suddenly took Netto's penis into his mouth and began to lick it while Netto arched backwards and moaned.

"D-don't be so sudden…! I don't have time to get in the mood…! You're so one-sided, Saito – niisan!" He moaned.

Saito shrugged and began to grip his balls from beneath while pulling at certain spots: Netto's moans increased in volume and he gasped when he noticed his release filling Saito's mouth: he had barely time to process it when Saito was looming over his face and connected with him again to kiss him once more: Netto was caught in the pace while Saito used his free hand to pinch and rub Netto's nipples.

_Oh heck. He now likes to tease my nipples… And he's so sudden: is he impatient or he wants to take out his bad mood like this? But it feels so good and delicious…!_

They eventually separated to see a string of saliva linking them: Saito suddenly began to lick Netto's nipples as he gripped his penis and slid down Netto's body so that it began to get inside of him: he moved up and down while Netto felt overwhelmed given his body's arching and the feeling of Saito's penis rubbing against his skin.

"Niisan…! O~h…! So good…! So good…!" He moaned.

Saito sneered and increased the pace: he lifted his body a bit and aimed his penis upwards so that his release stained Netto's face with more white stains and he let out a sigh of relief when he felt how Netto's penis released too and filled him.

"Heh, heh, heh. This felt good enough. Now I'm in the mood to try to study that thing. Maybe Mr. Shade has a better idea of how it's supposed to work but I'm sure that it's been sent to spy on us. Let them come: Black Doom will fall in front of our combined power like all huge Cyber monsters have done before. And if we use the "Vaccine Chip" then the guy is gonna lose a lot of his power too!" Saito grinned.

"Hah… Hah… Y-yeah… Y-you're right… This was too intense for my taste even… Try not to be so sudden next time, Saito – niisan!" Netto replied between pants.

"Who knows? _Otouto_?"

"Jeez! Ya do! Now please get off me." He annoyingly replied.

"Alright. But I'll be back, Netto – chan. My lover."

"Lover? Come on! We're twin brothers! I'm not an outsider!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I guess you'd do a fine lawyer one of these days."

"Please… That ain't funny."

Saito giggled while Netto grumbled…

17:19 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And if you buy these then you'll be able to stand your ground against Choina's pressures and border skirmishes."

"I heard the Z – Nation is making mincemeat of the R – Nation with those by now so it'd be good to have them as defense…"

"I am afraid you have fallen into a campaign of misinformation."

"Oh shit!"

"No way!"

"Flee, foreigner, and do not come back. I shall not allow this to become the market of war while I am the administrator of this place. Or I shall unleash my power on you."

"Kuwa~h!"

"Che. Chicken…!"

"Now… Are you going to be my opponent? Black Doom."

"Che. Serenade, the Reverse King…!"

"A Burma agent, right?"

"Che."

Black Doom had been speaking with a Navi in a corner of the Reverse Internet when Serenade suddenly showed up: the agent fled and even Black Doom seemed to be hesitating.

"Black Doom! Tactical withdrawal. Serenade isn't an opponent you can take on just like that. He's a very different level indeed! Come back to the HQ!" "Doctor T" commanded.

"Roger! Che! I'll remember this!"

Black Doom produced a purple flash and Serenade looked calm and unimpressed to see that he had fled: he did look upwards towards the road and smiled.

"You placed the tracer on him? Search Man."

"Affirmative."

Search Man became visible and disengaged his combat mode: Serenade calmly nodded in agreement.

"Even if it leads us to a dummy location we'll show him how foolish of him it is to come out in person. But the real purpose of the tracer is to analyze the 3D images about how they receive audio data and which band of the EM spectrum it uses." Serenade calmly muttered.

"That was a brilliant idea, really. Thank you very much, Reverse King Serenade." Laika thanked.

"You're welcome. I do wish to end this conflict soon: but do warn Obihiro Shun that there are some hunters after him. I suspect them to be pawns employed by Doctor T on command of the "Ice Queen"…"

"We will. Goodbye."

Search Man logged out and Serenade quickly turned around to see a red blur run off: he seemed to be thinking about it but then shrugged.

"No. That one didn't have a trace of "Dark Power" and its power level was different from any normal Navi yet it wasn't "Original" Forte. Maybe it's someone else who wants to help us…" He muttered.

"Are you sure, Serenade? I don't like the idea of an unknown powerful Navi skipping through here…" Urakawa Mamoru asked.

"Don't worry, Mamoru. I could've felt his malice if it was the case yet I only felt a sense of duty. Maybe it was Blues."

"Oh. Well. If it was Blues then I don't see any problem with that. You should be returning to the Secret Area so that we can continue the general oversight of the Reverse Internet, though…"

"Obviously. Let us go".

_If anyone we don't know of wishes to help us halt this senseless conflict then they're welcome to… Doctor T! You shall fall before our power!_


	17. Chapter 17: Rekindled Hell

**Chapter 17: Rekindled Hell**

10:22 AM (Norway Time), Tuesday December the 21st…

"… Hey. Haven't you got the feeling this place's been getting hotter for the last few days?"

"Couldn't be. All's sealed up: nothing can come in or out. The other watch-towers didn't report anything unusual."

"W-well… If you say so…"

"Man. I know we're sitting atop a gigantic underground maze which was as hot as Hell but even Hell gets frozen over during the Norway winters: today it's around minus 18 Celsius!"

"A-alright…"

Two ONBA Navis were sitting inside of an unfurnished stone room having narrow short vertical slits from which light came in: a set of portable wooden ladders allowed communication between the different floors including the rooftop: one of them sounded nervous and the other was calm.

"See? Look there. All sealed up: as always!"

"Y-you're right…"

They looked out through the window at the sealed up main shaft of the Angband fortress: several turrets had been set to defend it along with barbed fences.

"Huh? What's that?"

"What, what?"

A shape suddenly fell from the sky and hit the force field: raw electricity began to fly out in the form of gigantic bolts which landed around at random yet they fried some of the turrets: the field seemed to be holding up however and there was a loud and inhuman roar of anger and agony ringing out enough to make the whole ground shake and rumble as if an earthquake had been summoned.

"W-what's going on?" One of the Navis wondered.

"D-dunno!"

"Death to the invaders! Death to the invaders!" Several voices rang out from nearby.

"Damn it! Take out the ladders, seal the hatches, get your weapons and prepare to defend!" One of the Navis commanded.

"Useless."

Black Doom suddenly dropped in from the open ceiling hatch and disposed of the Navis using just two clean attacks: yells of agony and the sound of trumpets rang out plus the CLANG of metal facing metal: Black Doom merely jumped back into the sky and looked towards the force field which seemed to be losing power: the bolts of energy had become bigger and wilder now opening craters all around the shaft: it finally shattered and the mass fell down inside followed by a continuous sound of shattering crystal.

"Using a _kamikaze_ Balrog was a brilliant idea, really. Their mass is too much for the force field to handle and they can increase their power with their own flames: 60% of its mass has been destroyed by now but the remaining 40% mass is enough to shatter all levels' fields which are only designed to stop about 15% of a Balrog's mass." Black Doom muttered aloud with some amusement to his voice.

"Indeed. It's all about mass and energy plus speed. That's what determines the energy release of a meteor after all! You only need to apply those principles to any mass." "Doctor T" sneered.

"Now Angband is back in our hands and the Hell it is will be rekindled: Balrogs will breed better here given the heat bonus and become more resistant than our own breeds. We will keep on giving out lesser breeds to any buyers but if they try to play smart on us our superior breeds will easily destroy them." Black Doom chuckled.

"And let that traitor's Navis come… They'll be met with total and complete eradication!"

"Obviously, Master. I can't wait to take on that swordsman. Do you think they'll be coming soon?"

"Maybe they'll do scouting at first and then they might think about it but that man will try to let the Japan ONBA handle it… They'll split into two groups: an attack group and a defense one. The defense one will remain in Japan in case we try to attack them in the meanwhile while the attack one will try to push their way in. But this time there's no server to halt or sabotage… There'll be the Balrog breeders protected by other Balrogs and they'll eventually have to fall back… Heh, heh, heh."

"I see. Very smart of you, T."

"My lady."

"Skip the ceremonies."

"Your will. I am retaking the fortress of Angband which I helped construct for Nebula Grey and the "Witch – Queen of Angmar"…"

"I've seen your summary. It amuses me how she dominated Rock Man and that guy's wannabe girlfriend. It set a precedent and now they will fear how worse I can actually be. Yet that Admin 5 guy wasn't doing it too bad either. But in the end stray souls have to be set on the right path: it's good that you don't hold back… That staging of murder plus suicide was beautifully played and you kept those police idiots fooled for a while before they began to think more of it." Anaya Maria laughed in an icy tone of voice.

"I am honored by thou praise, my lady."

"That sounds somewhat old-fashioned. Be modern, T!"

"R-roger, ma'am."

"That sounded better. Keep it like it. So I hear you used a Balrog as _kamikaze_? That's so crazy: they didn't see it coming because they don't believe you'd be so crazy… Crazy in the sense of impossible. I didn't mean there's anything faulty with your brains."

"I know, ma'am… That's why I did it, ma'am."

"Tee, heh, heh, heh… Marco! How's the hunt going like?"

"Not very well, my lady… That little punk is too well hidden by the ONBA and there isn't even a biography around or some leaked file. But one or two of them reported finding some databases which had been attacked by some type of worm program targeting all data with the tag "OBIHIRO SHUN" attached to it…" Marco reported.

"Hmpf… So they've learned I'm after the kid. I guess those fools talk too much and aren't discrete. Keep tabs on them and dispose of any idiotic-looking ones." Anaya scoffed.

"Your will."

Black Doom and some Balrogs were going down the shaft with the elevator while some Uruk – Hai soldiers were setting banners which had a golden triangle the vortexes of which were marked by three five-pointed stars having a purple-colored Alphabet "D" letter on it atop all watch-towers.

"Main entrance opened!" Someone reported to Black Doom.

"Good, Uluk. Don't get cocky: the invaders might've left some traps behind. Make sure to trigger on the new perimeter fences which we've been installing too to stop reinforcements from coming." Black Doom calmly commanded.

"Roger!"

"Boss. We're almost there." One soldier warned.

"Good. Get ready to upgrade the server into the central furnace and put on a force field for the observation room. Open up the tunnel leading to the main structure too and set force field barriers because even rock will have trouble resisting the Hell this is gonna become: we'll shut down the stair and remove the lift and reroute all shaft tunnels to lead to the surface instead: this shaft will be filled with heat expellers and exchangers… If you thought Death Valley was Hell then that'll look like a breeze by the time the furnaces here start working. This place will also work as a detention and interrogation center."

"Roger, Boss!"

"Total estimated time before all work is done… If we use the automated nanomachines working on the Von Neumann machine principle... Roughly 40 hours." Black Doom calculated.

"Von Neumann machine? What was that again?" Anaya asked.

"It is a very intriguing concept, ma'am. You see, if you have a huge engineering job to do you can approach it from two angles: use one machine which would take forever or build a lot of them yet that'd take a lot of time and money. But this principle is placing one and then building it so that it has the materials to replicate itself at a quick rate and it builds new machines in just a few hours' time. Then these machines will give birth to other machines and so on until the job is done and it'll take a record time to do so." "Doctor T" explained.

"Self-replication, then… Intriguing. Where'd you get the idea?"

"This, ma'am. _2010: Odyssey Two_… The alien artifact, the "Monolith", can replicate itself over and over again when it reaches double its thickness every two hours and managed to turn Jupiter into a mini-sun by altering its composition so that only heavy elements would be left and it'd eventually collapse unto itself… And the whole thing took less than 48 hours!" He admitted.

"Splendid! That's why it's good to be a literate man: you can find so many ideas which the ignorant masses can't begin to fathom!"

"Truly."

"Tee, heh, heh. Come, you traitors! A slow and painful death is waiting for you bastards!" She hissed.

"Yikes. The Queen sounds scary." A soldier muttered.

"Shut up and work." Black Doom grumbled.

"Don't mind that: it's a proof of her power!" "Doctor T" chuckled.

"Lovely." Black Doom muttered.

18:50 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! Who goes there?"

"Your doom."

"Black Doom!"

"Yeah. Me. Bite me if you can, Slash Man."

"Rolling Slasher!"

"Heh."

"Damn! 3D image!"

"See you."

"Wait right there you moron!"

Slash Man had been patrolling around Green Area's entrance from Central Area 3 when Black Doom's 3D image showed up: Slash Man tried to attack him but failed: Black Doom then ran inside and Slash Man began to chase after him: Black Doom turned to taunt at him from time to time and Slash Man began to get annoyed: they eventually reached the tall tree in Green Area 2 and Black Doom jumped into the pit leading to Reverse Internet 0 but Slash Man was too heated up to notice: Black Doom then stopped in front of something and taunted Slash Man got forgot he was a 3D image and rammed into the something.

"Who dares to disturb the slumber of the Destruction God?" An angry voice boomed out.

Slash Man gasped and realized he'd rammed into a familiar gravestone which had gotten a pretty ugly dent and was starting to crack: immense power began to radiate out of it and the whole area rumbled: "Original" Forte hovered outside of the grave and looked pretty angered: Slash Man cursed under his breath and stepped back while Black Doom hovered high in the air while chuckling.

"You lowlife… You dared to disturb my slumber… Pay your insolence with your bones! Darkness Overload!"

"Rolling Slasher!"

Slash Man quickly rolled to the left and dodged the deadly purple beam of energy by mere inches: "Original" Forte quickly began to sweep around the area with his "Dark Arm Blades" and bombarded the ground with the "Hell's Buster" too.

"Die."

"Wait a min, you! It wasn't my fault! Black Doom…"

"Black Doom? I know of that lapdog. Where are they? They're more worth my time!" "Original" Forte stopped and looked around.

"Behind you. You ass-hole." Black Doom taunted.

"I'll have your power! Earth Breaker!"

"You never remember things properly, do you?"

"Original" Forte flew past Black Doom and he got a twitch over his right eye: Slash Man gulped and kept on recoiling while Black Doom folded his arms and floated higher upwards to look down (literally) on "Original" Forte with obvious taunting intention.

"Bite me, you freak insane bastard." He taunted.

"YOU BASTARD!" "Original" Forte yelled as he rushed towards him with both "Dark Arm Blades" drawn.

"Rather faulty short-term memory, right? No wonder you were always coming back to get your ass pounded by Rock Man. You couldn't remember the previous encounters. And the data of you which got ripped by Proto contributed to that too." Black Doom kept on taunting.

"Die, die and DIE!"

"Useless. But I've got a challenge for you… You'll be able to face me if you can prove you're the Cyber World's strongest one with your flesh and abilities here…" Black Doom chuckled.

"Prove I'm the strongest…!" He began to grow excited.

"I've taken the bother to come up with a challenge which only you should be able to overcome if you really are the strongest Net Navi within this Cyber World… Come to this place… _Good luck_!"

Black Doom tossed a piece of rock with something scribbled on it and "Original" Forte caught it just as the 3D image vanished: he quickly read it and a lustful grin was drawn across his face: Slash Man didn't stay to watch it and was already climbing back up the roots of the tree to head to Green Area while "Original Forte" laughed.

"So be it!"

He opened his purple doorway and tossed the chunk of stone into the ground before entering inside and vanishing: Freeze Man came into the scene immediately afterwards along with Grand: they looked around but didn't see anyone.

"They said there was a ruckus going on. I felt that power surge. I've never felt something so powerful before… What was it?" Freeze Man wondered as he examined the area.

"Hmmm? Senpai! Please look at this." Grand requested as he showed up the piece of stone.

"HTML address? Hmmm… www rekindled-hell dot no… No… Norway? Oh damn. Angband! They've taken over Angband and want to reactivate it again! The Uruk – Hai mass generation server…!"

"We made sure to dismantle it on a way that it couldn't be brought back up again…" Grand sounded doubtful.

"Hmmm… Then maybe…? Ah! The Balrogs…! They must be trying to breed stronger Balrogs who can generate more heat and power… We should go report to Mr. Barrel on the double!" Freeze Man realized.

"Bloody hell. Let's hurry then." "Hack" cursed.

"Hmmm? Wait a minute, Master Hack. Mountain Spear!" Freeze Man seemed to spot something.

"Yikes!"

"Who's that?"

"Speak."

"A p-p-p-passer by…!"

A black colored Reverse Internet Net Navi had been driven towards a wall and trapped there by Freeze Man's "Mountain Spears" and tried to play the innocent but the look on Freeze Man's eyes said it all: he didn't believe a single word of it.

"I've felt your smell three times already. Once is normal. Two is a coincidence. Thrice is a conspiracy." He listed.

"Gotta be another hunter looking for Hack's friend." Grand calmly deduced while folding his arms.

"You were ordered to search for Obihiro Shun? Answer me and I'll let you go." Freeze Man demanded.

"Y-yeah! Black Doom offers 5000Z for info on the guy's movements for the last 30 days and 7500Z if anyone discovers the actual place! I heard the guy was connected to Gospel and when I saw you, the former highest-rank Net Navi of Gospel, I thought following ya would lead me to my prey! Now lemme go!" The Navi confessed.

Freeze Man snapped his right hand's thund and index finger but barred the way of the Navi.

"Tell this to Black Doom and any other hunters. If you get in my way again then you'll be frozen for all eternity." He warned.

"Yeah. And we'll kick your asses." Grand added.

"Uwa~h!"

The guy ran away like they were gonna slaughter him alive while both Freeze Man and Grand nodded to each other and warped out failing to spot a figure looking on.

_Damn you Maria! Now you wanna harm a minor and leave him shell-shocked for life? _Shachou_ is gonna deal with ya!_

"Report, O." A familiar voice commanded.

"_Shachou_? I saw Freeze Man and Grand…"

"And?"

"Maria wants to capture Obihiro Shun."

"Damn it. Damn you Maria!"

"Cool it down, _Shachou_." The Net Navi reminded him.

"I know! So she wants to do Obihiro first because she thinks he must be unprotected. She'll save Hikari Netto for later or… That witch could be planning on using him as bait for Hikari Netto too… But that'd be way too obvious. No. She wants to destroy him!" He growled.

"Luckily it'd seem this Hack guy is a good friend of his and is helping erase all traces of him. He's gotta be under protection of the ONBA and maybe they granted him a new ID…" The Navi thought aloud.

"Sounds like it… Good. But let's not lower the guard around Hikari Netto and Rock Man plus their companions… I don't feel like jumping into the picture yet. We should stay low because Maria wants my head on a silver platter so I'm not gonna take a step outta our HQ. Not even that bitch can get in so easily." The man suggested with obvious annoyance.

"I know that that woman angers you but if you fall into that trap then she wins when it comes to reading your behavior, _Shachou_."

"… True. Then I won't dance to her demoniac flute anymore: the time has come to settle the score once and for all. These days ahead are gonna be long and we'll be lucky if she doesn't ruin the party. But then again she might try to play aristocrat and allow for a break… Which we'll surely need too…" The man reflected aloud.

"Let's send her a sandal with evil feathers and teeth via DHL."

"Hah! That's a good one. I missed those jokes. Back to work! Maria: I'm gonna settle the score with you! Wait and see!"

_Well said, _Shachou_… Ready or not here we come~_!


	18. Chapter 18: Premature hatching

**Chapter 18: Premature hatching**

12:45 PM (Norway Time), Tuesday December the 21st…

"… Graurg~h! Grawgh! Ugh…! T-tenth one…!"

"Impressive. I wasn't expecting you to get past two. I've clearly underestimated your powers… But will that beaten down body of yours bear with it? Yet there's no doubt anymore… Only you could've beaten 10 Balrogs in a row…"

"S-shut up… Hra~h! Darkness Overload!"

"Muwro~h!"

"I still don't see how that guy can defeat them in barely 5 minutes despite their high potential!"

"I'm trying to collect battle data for analysis, Doctor T."

"Good. Send it over live. I'll figure something out. His power can't be "Dark Power" given the antibodies… And he healed pretty well from the attack of the "God Phoenix" last time around too…"

Black Doom was seeing how "Original" Forte fought with one Balrog in the surface of Angband in front of a rock-built round building the rear half of which merged with the mountain: two great stone doors lay open and heat was rushing out through there and through several fissures and ventilation shafts: "Original" Forte looked like he'd been in a though fight but was something managing to survive.

"Hmmm… Aha-hah. Bugs. He's been absorbing bugs and sleeping in that tombstone to let them build up and stabilize on his body. It's part of the "Ultimate Bug Fusion Body Gospel" which he absorbed… That could be very useful." Doctor T sneered.

"So we should try to capture him instead?"

"Yeah. But be wary: his attacks allow him to output bugs. I'm not sure if your defenses could withstand such a cocktail. I'll send you a device to knock him out and render him harmless."

"Roger."

"Earth Breaker! Get Ability Program! Hah, hah… Eleventh one… You go next! Hell's Buster!"

"Damn. Dream Aura!"

Black Doom formed a Dream Aura to shield himself from the barrage and flew inwards and into a tunnel: "Original" Forte began to chase him and Black Doom seemed to inwardly grin as he zigzagged around the tunnels and began to form 3D images to make "Original" Forte lose his sense of orientation: he ended up in a tall vertical shaft the bottom of which was filled with Cyber Magma: a force field formed behind him and the room rumbled as a Balrog began to emerge from the Cyber Magma: its body was colored black and had an armor of solidified magma over it plus a large burning whip and one large sword.

"Meet the new-breed Balrogs! Try to make it alive through this one: I'll be looking on at how you're defeated!" Black Doom laughed.

"Fuck! Hell's Buster!"

The rounds bounced off the Balrog's armor as it jumped into the air towards "Original" Forte who began to move around in a blur and try to hit the monster with his "Dark Arm Blades" which didn't get to inflict any real damage.

"Useless, useless!" Black Doom taunted.

"Fuck! Darkness…!"

"Time's up! Eat this!"

Black Doom suddenly drew an "Elec Pulse 3" Battle Chip and emitted some supersonic waves which paralyzed "Original" Forte: Black Doom then gripped his forehead and closed his fingers around the blue star-shaped jewel which began to turn into a fierce ruby coloring: "Original" Forte's eyes began to lose the traces of consciousness to them and black fire began to glow through them.

"Like this… Heh, heh, heh."

22:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. So what's going on?"

"Insofar… Black Doom lured "Original" Forte to Angband because they've recaptured it and we couldn't come close to it: guard is extremely high and long-range scans show that the temperature is rising. Armies of nanomachines are reconverting the whole central shaft and the vigilance turrets are occupied by sentinels."

"Lovely."

"Like _Senpai_ said… The place's an anthill."

Freeze Man and Grand had come to the Science Labs to explain the situation to Barrel: he looked tired and worn out.

"I see. Well! Nothing we can do about the thing either… Go back and I'll see if I'll have some rest: things have been going downhill ever since the early morning." Barrel sighed.

"Roger."

"See ya."

"Barrel… What are you going to do?" Meijin asked of him.

"I dunno. I feel at loss: this is outside the usual… The only thing I can think of is to start drawing defense plans and set some watches on the borders to see if they try to attack us en masse… We should try to stop them from selling more Balrogs. And Search Man's little idea got found out too early and now we've lost a chance too. Damn. That Doctor Towa – something son of a bitch is pissing me off so badly, really." Barrel admitted with obvious frustration, tiredness and annoyance.

"Staying up all night won't do any difference."

"I know. But I'm not in the mood to sleep when that place could be filling up with hordes ready to jump upon us. If they wanted to topple us then they couldn't pick a better moment."

"Do excuse me but I don't think Maria's aiming THAT far."

"Kanou Shade. About time you showed up."

"I apologize. I've had to shake off some hunters off my trails and travel off-city…"

Kanou Shade came in and took off both hat and sunglasses: he looked tired as well and sat down in a chair.

"She only wants to go back to her old position. I rather think that Doctor T is trying to build up a strong deterrent to stop us from striking back at them. I don't know what they're doing in Angband but it can be no good and I haven't seen "Original" Forte come out either. I'm afraid he's been captured and that they'll turn him into a tool to use against us. No – one seems to have heard the name "Doctor T" so he most likely made it up after he set up his organization." He detailed.

"Do you think the hunt for Obihiro is a ruse?" Barrel asked.

"No. I'm convinced it's very real indeed and that she has shifted her lust around… She's very caprice-like. The spoiled type who gets everything no matter what and that knows no limits… Even Marco, her old friend, got turned into a mere servant. But since he was rather simple-minded and didn't think much of things then he became the perfect type of person: he's that type of man who is content with being told orders and doesn't have too broad of an imagination."

"With such a panorama… No clues about where they are at?" Meijin asked with a sigh.

"Nothing. Certainly not in the underground… And not in her old refuge either… But she might've gone to a foreign country too using a disguise and an ID… Who knows? Maybe she even went to play Countess or Duchess at Monte Carlo." He fumed.

"Wouldn't surprise me…"

"Anyway… The watch on the borders is a good idea but they won't strike now because we'll be expecting it and Maria isn't the type to use mundane or _cliché_ tricks… No… She wants to look original and totally innovative…"

"That's some relief at the very least. I'll go sleep in one of the meeting rooms: at the least there's good heating. I want to be close to the scene in case something was to happen tonight."

"I will be heading to my hotel: I rented a small cheap room just for tonight using another ID and a disguise… It's close by. So I'll drop here first thing in the morning…"

"Good night."

Both Kanou Shade and Barrel came out of the command room and Meijin sighed as he used a device to scan the room.

"No micro-robot here… And no Copy Roid signature either… Gate Man: did you make sure no – one was eavesdropping from the Cyber World? We don't want them to learn of our reflections, do we?"

"Don't worry. Coast's clear."

"Good enough… Fua~h…"

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The revolution!"

"Shut up, Frank."

"That recording again… Well. Whatever. It doesn't do any harm at all so I don't mind the thing sticking around." Meijin yawned.

"You've been pushing it a lot too, Meijin. You need some rest: the night patrol will handle the perimeter security and we'll close for the day: the next days are gonna be complicated." Gate Man told him.

"Sure thing…"

Meijin headed out of the Command Room and used the panel to digitally lock it up: he oversaw the functioning of the Main System before he came out of the room and locked it too: he then headed to the upper floor and rode into the elevator until he reached a small hallway: he picked a bag from a closet and took out a sleeping bag: he slipped inside and soon fell asleep.

_Man. I hope the world is still in one piece by tomorrow…_

15:17 PM (Norway Time)…

"… How's the process going like, Black Doom?"

"Armor integration shows no trouble insofar."

"Good. Is the mind control effective?"

"98.5% effective. There's no way to achieve a higher figure given this guy's strong mental strength."

"It'll do for the time being… Heh, heh, heh…"

"I see you're having fun, T. So what are you gonna do?"

"My lady. It's simple: I'll boost him up but keep him under my control to make of him a mass destruction weapon: accompanied by several of the new-breed Balrogs we'll topple defense systems and prove that no spot in Earth is safe from us. We'll start with the can of worms."

"The can of worms? Oh… I see. Excellent."

"Thank you very much."

Black Doom was overseeing some kind of cocoon hanging above the shaft where "Original" Forte had fought the Balrog hours ago: some black dots were travelling across its surface and it swayed a bit yet it remained stable: that same "new-breed" Balrog was sitting on a ledge next to the cocoon and apparently sleeping.

"How's the furnace's construction progressing like?" Maria asked with a hint of amusement.

"We still need about 30 hours." "Doctor T" admitted.

"Good. Then it's on schedule."

"Of course it is. I like being punctual, my lady."

"Those guys can't begin to imagine what will befall them… Marco! Any progress on the hunt? Have you purged out the imbeciles?"

"I have. Three of them are left… But we're stuck."

"Hmm… Leak a rumor. Say the kid's the illegitimate son of the Gospel boss that he's a computer crack who wants to surpass his old man. People will get afraid and the ONBA will have a hard time countering that. This will make people want to provide info. Offer 7500Z of reward on info regarding sightings and movements in the last 24 hours." Maria decided with an evil tune to her voice.

"Acknowledged."

Black Doom chuckled and hovered away to check on the Balrog: he looked at it for some seconds and then nodded in agreement as if the status of the monster was alright: he suddenly heard a loud ripping sound and turned around to see the right hand of "Original" Forte (now colored red and the forearm having changed to orange and yellow) ripping out of the cocoon and opening and closing.

"Damn. Premature awakening. This guy's still needs 3 hours to be fully stable." He grumbled.

The black spot headed over there and quickly regenerated the texture so Black Doom sighed in relief: a loud roar suddenly rang out from behind and he turned around to see that the Balrog had awakened and its eyes shone with grey light: it jumped across the shaft and pushed the cocoon out of its place before it met the far wall and bounced off to plunge into the Cyber Magma along with the cocoon: the black spots got destroyed immediately and the texture began to burn: a red-colored "Dark Arm Blade" ripped through the texture and began to cut around.

"Damn it. How did a bug get into the new-breed Balrog? They're supposed to be immune to them!" He cursed.

"… Power… I have new power… I'm not a puppet… I'm the Phoenix Slayer! I've been reborn from a weaker existence… Into the ultimate being! The shameful imitator will be destroyed by my new power! But you go first, you sunnuva!" A voice rang out.

"Damn it. Mind control isn't being effective!"

"What the hell's going on?"

"Original" Forte had now gained a general crimson coloring with hardened lava armor over his body which had veins and patches pending proper cooling.

His eyes' irises had turned black and the jewel on his forehead was a ruby by now shining with fierceness.

The new armor hid his emblem totally and the colors orange and yellow mixed up in spiraling patterns travelling across his arms and legs.

"I'm the Phoenix Slayer! I slay everything… Including - YOU!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Phoenix Slayer! You owe your life to Doctor T!"

"No! I obey no pitiful human!"

"Hmpf." "Doctor T" was unimpressed.

"Oh, my… Is there a hint of something else in that reply?"

"… There is, true… But I'd like to talk of it later on if possible. My lady. All will be explained in detail then."

"No problem. Handle the rebel cadet." Maria shrugged.

"Luckily he isn't used to his new abilities by now and is very exposed like a newborn insect… Black Doom! His body structure has largely changed to that of a Flame – Type Net Navi… But Water – Type Battle Chips evaporate in this environment and freeze on the outside. Get away from there until you reach a point where below 50 Celsius." "Doctor T" instructed.

"Roger. You foolish rebel! Try to survive outside of this environment before boasting and getting cocky." Black Doom taunted.

He flew out through the entrance and "Phoenix Slayer" chased him while trying to use a new version of the Hell's Buster but it apparently didn't work as usual because the energy of each round seemed to dissipate very fast: Black Doom chuckled and began to climb up a diagonal shaft with the rookie "Phoenix Slayer" chasing him and now trying to use the "Dark Arm Blades" yet they were cooling down and their structure seemed to be unstable given how cracks showed up on them: he cursed.

"Damn it! I've got power! Why can't I channel it out?"

"Because you tried to rebel. The new power didn't have enough time to integrate with your body and now it's present in just 25% of your body and not in the core sections… You might shoot some out after a while but it'll be very lacking." Black Doom chuckled as he stopped in the middle of a deep pit.

"Eat this!"

"Useless."

"Phoenix Slayer" tried to shoot out a "Darkness Overload" next but failed on his attempt given how he began to load the energy but it collapsed: Black Doom chuckled.

"Dark Wide."

The power of the attack hit "Phoenix Slayer" and the water boiled into purplish steam: another attack hit him and he felt his body grow heavier and threatening to stop floating and fall down the pit: Black Doom suddenly appeared before him and gripped his ruby to begin electrocuting him: "Phoenix Slayer" roared and got knocked out.

"There. Now back to the cocoon… The mind control program needs to be improved we should install a system to vent off this guy's energy in case he tried to escape again." Black Doom grumbled.

"Not bad. I see the point of your "evolution" scheme, T… But the question still remains: how did the Balrog get infected?"

"Well. We could check it: when it fell into the Cyber Magma it turned into sleeping mode again… Black Doom! Bring the guy to another chamber for proper incubation and then check on the Balrog."

"Roger."

"Boss, Boss!" A hysterical voice yelled through the radio.

"What?" Black Doom questioned.

"The Balrog which fell into the Cyber Magma has blown up!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" He yelled.

"Impossible!" "Doctor T" uttered.

"I know! But it suddenly hovered out, roared, extended the arms and legs and blew up in a bang making the ceiling collapse and now the shaft has been exposed to the surface! We had to seal the doorway up before the cold could scatter across the tunnels!" The voice reported.

"Hum. Well. Can't be helped. But this so weird." Black Doom grumbled in clear annoyance.

"… Damn. The other traitor, "V"! That guy must've sent one of his Navis to spy on us and staged this ruckus to distract us… But there's no use into trying to locate them… They must be miles away from here by now if I know them well enough." Maria hissed.

"I see! It'd fit with the dog's style… Sneak around, do some damage and pull back before they can grasp what's going on…"

"Che. So they're going to start a campaign of sabotage. But unless they find a way to insulate from the core's rising heat then they can't interfere with the construction of the furnace… This is gonna turn as Hellish as Mustafar, my word." "Doctor T" vented off his bad mood.

"Mustafar…? Where's that? The Middle East?"

"Ah! I apologize. No, no. Mustafar is the planet in _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith_ in which Obi – Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have their decisive showdown and which is the birthplace of the proper Darth Vader…" "Doctor T" admitted.

"Oh? Ah. Yeah. They did talk about the film while we were in that filthy place but I wasn't paying much attention. Guess I should try to look it up: it's picking me. But you guys better stay sharp: "V" will stop beating around the bushes and head for us. But well… Not even his 3 Net Navis can stop the might of Angband… Tee, heh, heh, heh…"

"Truly."

The three villains chuckled or giggled aloud…


	19. Chapter 19: Treading Behemoth

**Chapter 19: Treading Behemoth**

07:55 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Two more days until Christmas' Eve… And this year you're back with us, Saito – niisan, so it'll be a merry Christmas' Eve!"

"Well… I was back from Proto by this time of the year one year ago but I guess you mean that I'm in the real world now."

"Of course!"

"We should be getting a call from Barrel – san about what's going on soon enough… I don't think yesterday night was free of happenings."

"I don't either."

Netto and Saito were chatting inside of their bedroom: both were still on their pajamas and atop the bed with Saito looking at the ceiling while having both hands behind his head as he lied at Netto's right who also had the same pose and was looking at Saito with some curiosity: Saito looked calm and collected.

"By the way! Netto… What'll be the next step?"

"The next step… In what?"

"Don't be so dense. In Shirakami's escalating games…"

"Dunno. But he doesn't want to make me feel in pain so he obviously ain't gonna go anything forceful." Netto replied with a shrug.

"Oh? And that of the nipples isn't forceful enough?"

"No. It was my idea."

"So your masochist body wanted more, eh? You're becoming somewhat perverted yourself, Netto." Saito grinned.

"Guess so!"

"Are you gonna give him a perfume for Christmas?"

"Why should I?" Netto calmly asked back.

"Ah… Catching up, I see. Good, good."

"I'm not that dense either if I got high scores in all of the matters I study at the school." Netto defended himself.

"So? Are you gonna dress up as the Harlequin for the Carnival?"

"What's the Harlequin?" Netto frowned.

"A clown!"

"No way!" Netto groaned.

"Way. Could you imagine someone named Harley Quinn?"

"Isn't that a pun?" Netto asked.

"Yeah. But the guy is intriguing: he serves as a catalyst for human drama around him… And also provides some little subtle insight into the solution of some mysteries…" Saito smiled.

He suddenly loomed over Netto and began to caress his right cheek while Netto rolled his eyes.

"And since you can't eat you instead want to feel energized by suddenly seizing me and eating me?" Netto grumbled.

"Who knows?" Saito giggled.

"Jeez. Go codfish!"

"Go tuna."

"Go look for Red Rackham's treasure with "Copy" Forte!" Netto challenged out of the blue.

"No need to. I already found it in the closet behind the summer clothes rack." Saito shrugged his shoulders.

"Gimme a break! You were way too intense yesterday!"

"Too bad. I'm in the mood." Saito replied with a broadening grin.

"Jeez."

Netto's PET suddenly rang out to Netto's relief but Saito's disappointment given his groan: he fumed and headed over to it to then toss it at Netto who caught it.

"Barrel – san! What is the latest news?"

"Pretty bad. Angband's been retaken and the place's heating up literally plus becoming an anthill again. And "Original" Forte got lured there and hasn't been seen coming back. I'm afraid they've captured him and are trying to make a tool outta him." Barrel summed up.

"Bloody hell!" Saito cursed.

"I know. And now we've had to hide Obihiro because a rumor has begun that he's trying to recreate Gospel because he's the "illegitimate son" of the Gospel leader."

"Fuck. The Ice Queen!" Netto guessed.

"Obviously. Who else? We've already shot it down and said that Gospel's leader was a robot made by Wily which stopped working after the organization was brought down: releasing a photo of the guy back then was convincing enough and the hysteria has cooled down somewhat yet some stubbornly idiot guys refuse to let go of this rumor claiming the Pentagon is hiding Obihiro because they want to turn him into a prodigy hacker to start the Ameroupe – Choina Cyber War. Obviously both Pentagon and Beijing have told them that it's false but it only served to fuel them up." Barrel detailed with obvious annoyance.

"She's really desperate to capture Obihiro if she's bothered to come up with this." Saito cursed.

"Yeah. But as long as he's under our protection he's safe. We've confirmed the man known as Izono Marco started it up by phoning the DNN from a public phone booth 79 km SSE of Higureya. They obviously won't leave any traces behind: in fact the phone was bugged and unable to work so it took a while to locate that." Barrel grumbled.

"This is turning maddening. If only there was a really safe place to hide at which those guys wouldn't be able to figure out…"

"You can discard Higureya: Anaya knew Kanou Shade had been there and he's stopped going for fear of repercussions on Higure Yamitarou. Meijin is trying to find one but I'm afraid he's boiling his brains too."

"So… What do we do?" Saito asked the important question.

"Train. I'm sure it won't be long before we get another Uruk – Hai invasion and even though there won't be constant regeneration they will be big numbers and surely harder to chew." Barrel ordered.

"Roger."

"Later."

The call ended and Netto jumped off the bed to rush into the restroom the door of which he shut from the inside: Saito formed a mischievous grin and walked over to it to hear the sounds.

_He's washing the face and is gonna have the morning shower to properly wake up… Too bad. We could've tried it standing. You ran away today, Netto, but I'm gonna have my dose of energy sooner or later. But if Barrel – san says we gotta train then we'll train… I'll check the email in the meanwhile…_

Saito sat down in front of the PC and accessed the inbox: he found a mail addressed to his name and he lifted his eyebrows but grinned when he saw the sender's name to be "the cosplaying ani-ue-sama CBBCS dot ja" so he double clicked on it: there was just one line.

"Wanna beat the cool guy?"

"… Obviously." Saito grinned.

He typed the reply "OK" and sent the mail: a reply soon appeared onscreen.

"Come anytime. Soft, medium or hard?"

Saito brought the right hand to his chin before grinning and typing the reply to the question.

"Medium. Let's do it."

08:44 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright! Another successful trip, Kunio!"

"Good job, Charge Man. Take a break of 33 minutes."

"Attention. The 3:33 PM express coming from Nowhere In Particular is going to hijack this line and destroy anything which stands on its path in the name of the Treading Behemoth."

"What the coal?"

"What's going on?"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Destroy! Kill! Crush! Mince! Grind! Annihilate! Blow up! There's no stopping Phoenix Slayer – sama~ of the Angband Kingdom and the Shagohod!"

Charge Man EXE had been running his train service for Program – kuns in Seaside Area when a voice rang out and he turned around, surprised: Kurogane Kunio also sounded surprised.

"What the coal! What's THAT?"

A gigantic vehicle was rushing down the tracks and heading for Charge Man: it was painted in camouflage colors and had two "modules" per se: the front module was about six meters wide and eight tall: it had two "arms" extending from the main module which had gigantic screw propellers: a machine gun was mounted on the front of it slightly below a viewing window and had two hatches atop it plus a compartment to shoot missiles which was backed up with one AAC turret.

The rest of it consisted of an air-cushion-equipped rectangular module about twenty meters long (the front section was two to three meters long at the max) having a missile-carrying rectangular prism attached to the right side of it plus two rocket boosters attached at both sides close to the rear of the thing and a fire control radar on the left side.

It had the name "Angband" painted black on both sides of the secondary "module" plus a purple-colored Alphabet "T" letter: the whole thing looked deadly and ominous enough.

"Oi! You defunct steam locomotive! Outta the way!"

"Huh! Wha~t? Defunct steam locomotive, did you call the great me~, you rascal? Damn you~! Crazy…!"

"Plug Out!"

"Wha! What!"

Charge Man had been about to try to charge into the vehicle despite him being lower than the front section's lower edge when Kurogane retrieved him just as the thing ran past his position.

"Oi! The Treading Behemoth came! Make way, you lazy ass-holes! Mwah, hah, hah! By the will of the ever grand and supreme Doctor T these areas become His domain! Too bad, you morons!" Phoenix Slayer laughed and his voice was amplified by the speakers.

"That's good… Give them a teasing so that they learn to run for their fatty stomachs…" Black Doom told him.

"Sure thing, _senpai_! Pull on the gas! Full speed ahead!"

The vehicle began to increase speed and then engaged its machineguns to shoot around the area: Navis, Programs and Viruses fled as the thing rushed past Seaside Area and ended up in Central Area: it ran past the gigantic pit and followed the train tracks towards Green Area where it began to bombard the area with missiles.

"Oi! Insurance lawyers! Here ya have a new type: destruction by rampaging behemoth! Ya should've made it up back when the first _Gojira_ film came out!" Phoenix Slayer laughed.

"Good, good. Let them taste despair. But save the big candy for the last: we've got a nice idea of what to do with its cargo."

"Roger! Oho. We've got company. A slash-'em-all type."

"Slash Man. Heh. Let them try. When they fail to harm the hull then send a missile to kiss them." Black Doom chuckled.

"Rolling Slasher!"

"Eat missile's kiss!"

A missile was shot at Slash Man and impacted him fully thus inflicting grave damage before he had to log out: the monster veered southwards and spotted a large track.

"Accelerate. Get ready to shoot the thing."

"Roger! Full power!"

The rocket boosters began to heat up and quickly shot the vehicle forward at a mad speed: any observer only had the time to see a blur passing through the area.

"… Max speed achieve: 480 km per hour! 8 km per second! THIS IS SPEED!" Phoenix Slayer laughed.

"Fire."

"Alright! Say hi to Armageddon, Tokyo guys!"

The cover of the missile compartment opened and a missile was shot out using the vehicle's own speed as booster: the compartment closed and three parachutes were deployed as the roar from the engines died down and the vehicle began to regain its cruise speed.

"Cruise speed, 80 km per hour… But that was thrilling, _senpai_~! Heh, heh, heh. So! What's the catch in the big toy?"

"A witches' brew of bugs. But these ones will target programs instead and make them cause malfunctions and glitches to the services which will be rather minor individually but when they begin to happen one after the other the city will become overwhelmed. Besides: we've sent some guys to pay a visit to the Pentagon too." Black Doom chuckled.

"Oho. They'll soon be going up and down at a frantic pace claiming that we're gonna re-enact Pearl Harbor." Phoenix Slayer sounded amused.

"Sure thing, Phoenix Slayer… They'll be regretting eating all those donuts and getting fat while believing they are invincible. Well. They should remember what happened in September of four years ago…"

"Stop right there!"

"Hmmm? Well, well… Now whose turn is it? An _oni_ wannabe and a _ninja_ wannabe? Odd combination." He laughed.

"Killer Man and Shadow Man: assassination specialists."

"Assassination, eh? Why don't we run them over?"

"Go ahead."

"Killer Death Beam!"

"Fire Spell!"

"Useless, useless! Be grinded into DUST!"

"Che! Killer Man, pull out!"

"Damn. Shadow Man, retreat!"

"Hah! What chicken! Nothing can stand up to the Treading Behemoth, eh, _Senpai_?" Phoenix Slayer laughed.

"Of course they can't. Wait. I feel someone familiar…"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Huh? That purple kid…" Phoenix Slayer sounded surprised.

"Shirakami. He cooperated with the evil Dr. Regal in the "Heart Network" affair… Don't mind them. They're mere mice." Black Doom quickly commanded.

In effect: Shirakami had drawn a Tank Cannon Battle Chip and was aiming it at the monster: he shot but the round bounced off the front armor without leaving a single dent there and Shirakami seemed to lose his earlier confidence.

"Fuck. It ain't a hologram." He cursed.

"It isn't. Get ready to become RAW DUST!" Phoenix Slayer laughed.

"Shit! I'm outta here!" Shirakami growled.

"Heh, heh, heh! So who goes next?"

There was a suddenly explosion below the right screw propeller and a second one rang out beneath the left one: the vehicle came to halt while another four explosions, two per side, rang out again and ended up opening holes in the ground into which the screws sunk thus stopping the vehicle.

"Target acquired."

"Guess we'll have to take it out somehow."

"Hmpf… Search Man and Blues… Veterans… Guess the vehicle won't do so why don't you show them your newborn powers?" Black Doom muttered with a hint of amusement.

"My pleasure, _Senpai_…"

The hatch opened and Phoenix Slayer climbed out: his ruby was continuously pulsating and his eyes had turned black: the magma armor now covered all of his bodysuit and had several red, orange and yellow patterns spreading across it: a smug smile was drawn on his face as he leapt into the air and landed in front of Search Man and Blues who drew his weapons.

"So you're gonna tackle me. But you don't realize… I'm far above the pitiful weakling I was before. I'll show it to you!" He laughed.

He closed his right fist and a flash of energy was partly seen coming from his chest given the cracks and patterns around the solidified magma armor: energy travelled up to that arm and became the Hell's Buster colored black: it began to shoot reddish bullets which formed magma pools upon contact with the ground so both Search Man and Blues leapt into the air to dodge.

"Satellite Ray! Scope Gun!"

"Sonic Boom!"

"Way too cheap. Is that all you guys can do? And they call you two veterans? Don't make me laugh!"

"Damn!"

"Time for a nap! Magma Breaker!"

Energy flowed and built up around his right hand in the form of a reddish spheroid of raw magma: he hit the floor with it and it spread into a circle thus drawing a battle ring around them: he quickly kicked Search Man's lower jaw and there was a nasty CRACK sound like if he'd broken his jaw and then he punched Blues' forehead thus actually cracking the helmet open: both collapsed into the ground but were back on their feet soon enough: Crimson Slayer sighed and played the resigned.

"Too bad. Guess I'll have to go all out."

"No. Not yet. All – out power demands vital recovery time and you need a lot more of training before you can shorten it. At the present it means about 3 minutes." Black Doom warned as he looked from atop the Shagohod's cabin.

"Alright. Then I'll go for the kung-fu style."

"That's better. Shatter some bones." Black Doom chuckled.

"My pleasure…"

Phoenix Slayer rushed towards Search Man and brusquely pulled and pushed his right arm thus partly dislocating it: Search Man groaned but lowered his guard and got plummeted into the ground: Blues tried to attack from behind but got hit by the spheroid of magma which corroded his armor and collapsed on the ground while trying to shake the corroding magma off him.

"Enough! You two: pull back. I've seen enough. I'll defeat this guy and you're next, Black Doom!"

"So you finally showed up. This was starting to get boring."

"Heh, heh, heh. This guy emits an odd power… Looks like fun…"

"Let's go! Battle Operation, Set!"

"In!"


	20. Chapter 20: Battle fought in vain

**Chapter 20: Battle fought in vain**

09:37 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Hikari! Don't be reckless! That guy's been powered up and you've barely been in serious Net Battles as of late. Do you think you can win against him?"

"Ijuuin has a point. You're charging in recklessly as always."

"Oh yeah? I don't care! I've had enough of sitting back and letting these guys try to rule over us by terror and to kidnap a friend! Besides! Who defeated the Dream Virus twice, the Gospel monster, Proto, Duo, Nebula Grey and Greiga? Huh? And after that we were the only ones who could put an end to the "Witch – Queen of Angmar"!"

"Enough chit-chat! Fight me! Hell's Buster!"

"I know that move."

Rock Man had joined the fray and both Enzan and Laika scolded Netto for jumping into the fray in a reckless manner but Phoenix Slayer was not in the mood for chit-chat so he began attacking with his new attack but Rock Man dodged without too much trouble.

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In! Dream Sword! Go, Rock Man!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Heh. Come!"

Rock Man attack with the Dream Sword but Phoenix Slayer extended his right forearm forward and blocked the energy: he began absorbing it and his body pulsed with the energy flowing across it: Rock Man gasped as Phoenix Slayer formed a red-colored version of the Dream Sword and suddenly attacked Rock Man with it inflicting major damage: Rock Man groaned and stepped back while trying to ignore the burning spots on his body.

"Damn. The power doubles!"

"Program Advance! Wide Shot, Triple Slot In! Super Wide!"

"Eat this!"

The attack hit Phoenix Slayer's armor but only managed to splash it to then get boiled up: Rock Man gasped as Phoenix Slayer formed a smug smile across his face.

"This rock is hot enough to make water flash into steam at once! I've got no weaknesses! I'm a new breed of warrior immune to elemental weaknesses! You haven't felt the scorching heat of Hell… The real Hell Angband is going to become! Phoenix Overload!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura! Double Slot In!"

"Useless!"

The blast of crimson energy blew up the Dream Aura and before Rock Man could react Phoenix Slayer was inches away from him and he gripped his chest emblem into which he began pouring energy: Rock Man's body began to ignite and he yelled as the fire peeled away his bodysuit while Phoenix Slayer laughed.

"This is the fire of Angband! No metal can withstand it! Your flesh shall burn away like paper and only bone will be left!"

"Darkness Overload!"

"Muwra~h!"

"Damn. The rear armor lacks thickness."

"Ocean Seed!"

Someone suddenly attacked Phoenix Slayer from behind and he got knocked into the ground while the Ocean Seed hit Rock Man and made all of the fire be put out to be converted into steam: Rock Man dropped into his knees and was logged out immediately while Black Doom grumbled and looked upwards.

"This is between me and ani-ue-sama. So don't get in the way you megalomaniac punk."

"Che. So the defective's come to try again…"

"Watch your mouth, ugly. Your _aniki_ has come to settle the score with that ripped off hide."

"Yeah. Get ready."

"Damn!"

CLANG!

Zero suddenly showed up from behind Black Doom who barely had time to whip around and interlock his blade with Zero's while "Copy" Forte landed and faced Phoenix Slayer who was recovering from the blow to his back where some armor had jumped off from.

"You… _Senpai_ told me about you… A failed prototype which ran away before they could dispose of… Hah. I'll defeat you so easily then: my power is unbeatable." Phoenix Slayer grinned.

"Earth Breaker!"

"Copy" Forte jumped and hit the centermost part of Phoenix Slayer's armor: he increased the output and the energy began to flow out of the armor and turn into wild electrical bolts jumping around: Phoenix Slayer gasped as he felt one hit his unshielded "skin" behind his body and "Copy" Forte suddenly used a _judo_ maneuver to throw him against the front of the Shagohod as Black Doom and Zero clashed while jumping against the air: Phoenix Slayer was bounced off the front of the machine but some chunks of armor did jump away.

"I've toyed with the particles ensuring integration of the armor! And not even you can damage the armor of that machine. Thus you're losing the bonus and returning to being what you were."

"Damn you, prototype! Magma Breaker!"

"Earth Breaker!"

Both attacks met yet they merged and detonated thus causing a shockwave of energy making Phoenix Slayer hit the Shagohod again.

"Damn it! Hell's Buster!"

"Dream Aura!"

The rounds bounced off and "Copy" Forte suddenly rammed into Phoenix Slayer, picked him and dropped him while kicking him to crash against the Shagohod again: more of his armor began to fall out.

"Around 55% of the armor has fallen but ani-ue-sama doesn't look like he's gonna give up anytime soon… While Zero keeps his doppelganger busy I'll try to take down more of his armor… I gotta be thankful to this machine's real armor and thickness because it makes things be easier and all." He muttered

"Phoenix Arm Blade!"

"Darm Arm Blade!"

They clashed blades again and "Copy" Forte quickly kicked several spots of the armor to keep on breaking it: Phoenix Slayer paid no heed and tried to reach for "Copy" Forte's chest emblem but he saw him coming and delivered a kick to his lower jaw from beneath: Phoenix Slayer got momentarily disorientated and "Copy" Forte used the chance to deliver a barrage of fisting to the armor before kicking him on the chest with both feet and making Phoenix Slayer get plummeted against the Shagohod's outer armor: over 80% of his armor was cracked by now but he kept on resisting the outcome: "Copy" Forte then tried to punch the ruby but was repelled by some field of energy.

"I knew it. You won't let go of ani-ue-sama so easily… How's this one like, then? Program Advance! Elec Pulse 1, Elec Pulse 2, Elec Pulse 3! Slot In! Destroy Pulse!"

The powerful Program Advance emitted a powerful sound pulse and Phoenix Slayer tried to cover his ears as a sharp high-pitched burst of sound penetrated into his head and began to drive him mad: the ruby began to resonate and some cracks opened up there: Phoenix Slayer clutched his head next and roared.

"Guwra~h! I am…! I am…!"

"Tactical withdrawal!"

A purple-colored gateway opened behind him and he was swallowed inside before it closed: "Copy" Forte growled.

"Damn. I was so close!"

"Hah. I won't let go of a useful pawn so easily."

"Doctor T! Show your ugly hide!"

"Go play table-turning." He shot back with obvious mockery.

"HUH? Table-turning? What the heck is that?"

"Of course… It must be forgotten by today but it was popular on the 1920s and 1930s… Or better yet: hold a _séance_ with a medium. You'd be surprised at how many people believed in that even in "civilized" places like England…" He laughed.

"You gotta be 100 kilos fat, huh?"

"I'm not so stupid to fall for that taunt. Hmpf!"

"Stop chasing Obihiro and fight like a man!"

"It isn't I who wants Obihiro: my lady desires that and Her Grace's will shall be made reality no matter the cost or methods."

"Grfjtx!" "Copy" Forte grumbled.

"Feeling lost? Try some soul-searching. I doubt you finding anything at all to begin with though." He taunted next.

"Hrah! Hah! Huh!"

"Hah. You haven't realized, eh, Zero? I'm not the same weakling I was before: I've received further power from Angband's devices and now I can beat you!"

"Copy" Forte looked up to see Black Doom managing to push Zero back and start to give him trouble: both were hovering over the Shagohod and clashing blades at a frantic rate: Zero was grumbling by now.

"Damn. I won't give up! Eat this!"

"Hmpf! Useless."

Zero tried to shoot his greenish beam of energy at Black Doom but the guy countered with a red beam which beat Zero's own one and almost hit him were it not for him dropping down and landing atop the Shagohod: he suddenly seemed to have an idea and jumped inside of the cockpit closing the hatch: Black Doom gasped but was slow to react when five missiles zeroed on him and inflicted major damage to him: he growled and clutched the wounds but then suffered the attack of the machineguns and the damage became worse.

"Fuck. I'm off!"

He escaped the area using a purple gateway too and both "Copy" Forte and Zero sighed in relief: a beep suddenly rang out over the radios and they quickly connected them.

"Barrel… Bad news: the Pentagon's in a tight spot. A bug-loaded ICBM has landed there and all kind of systems are malfunctioning one after the other: they're evacuating the building but they can't let any hackers get in and try to rob military secrets so we gotta help them…"

"I'll go. Someone must stay here and watch over that machine. "Copy" Forte, you'll do fine." Zero announced as he came out.

"Roger. I don't think "Doctor T" can retrieve it so easily given this thing's sheer size and weight: it surely came through some high-speed optic fiber connection and has been travelling for hours to make its way from Norway to Japan…" "Copy" Forte agreed with it.

"Good. I'll have one quick energy recharge and hurry there: I guess we already have people there, right, Barrel?" Zero asked.

"Of course. But the more the better. These bugs only seem to affect programs and circuitry and can be easily neutralized by the Net Navis' own defenses…" Barrel replied.

"Good enough. Later."

"How's Rock Man like, Barrel?"

"You made it on time so only his bodysuit got harmed by the fire yet his Ultimate Program got corrupted and his pain receptors overloaded. This is gonna leave sequels, obviously enough. But I wouldn't scold them: they've had to sit back and watch for most of the time and must've felt like they weren't useful enough…" Barrel sighed.

"I see… Keep me informed."

"No problem."

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The Japan Revolution!"

"Shut up, Takeda."

"Eh… That wasn't my version." "Copy" Forte admitted.

"Strange. Then someone must've recycled your idea and try to localize it to make it funnier, I guess." Barrel shrugged.

"The world's most destructive weapon has been conceived!"

"What!"

"… Purple-colored winged and toothed sandals!"

"HUH? What the heck?" Both uttered.

"Shut up, Koumei."

"Alright. That was lame even for me."

"Sure thing… We need someone to have a look at those and fix them before they drive us crazy." Barrel grumbled.

"I'll try to study this machine's armor to see if we could try to recreate it somehow for our own gain. And we could try to find out if it has any particular weaknesses we can exploit."

"Go ahead. I'm sending Tengu Man there to assist in case any of those two feels like coming back for more." Barrel invited.

"My pleasure."

"Copy" Forte began to look inside of the cabin and frowned at the design as if something was picking him.

"You know… This design… It's very mechanical. No onboard computers or sensors… Feels like some machine of the 60s or 70s even…" "Copy" Forte reported as he checked the wiring.

"It was giving me that vibe. It looks like a collage of existing tech yet I think that its intention was to become a missile delivery system. It can act as additional booster and increase the missile's range. It would have done neat because an ICBM of that time wouldn't have fit there so they'd have to find a way to shoot a missile of a lesser class yet make it become the equivalent to an ICBM's range." Barrel exposed his thoughts.

"Tengu Man has arrived! Hum!"

"Ho, ho, ho… Be careful, Tengu Man." Roujin Fuuten warned.

"Hum!"

"Oi! Ya! I'll give ya 2500Z if ya tell me where I can find a brat named Obihiro." A Reverse Internet Navi rushed in and headed for Tengu Man without apparently noticing the Shagohod.

"Bounty hunter?" Tengu Man questioned.

"Yessir! One of the best!"

"I refuse. Keep that vile money gathered through pain and suffering of innocent souls to your wicked flesh."

"Wha~t? You laughing at me, Tengu – freak?"

"Tengu Thrust!"

"Kuwa~h!"

"Heh. Send us a postcard when you reach the Greater Antilles!" "Copy" Forte joked as he looked out from inside of the Shagohod's cockpit viewing slits.

"Hum! Suck wicked people shall not fool me." Tengu Man grumbled.

"Obviously."

"Oi, oi! You look so strong: would you help me out and I give ya 3000Z in exchange? I'm looking for a kid named Obihiro and…!"

"Tengu Thrust!"

"Kyau~rgh!"

"Another one… Damned Ice Queen!" "Copy" Forte growled.

"Hmmm… If they want rumors then I'll give those guys rumors too. Have this one: the Ice Queen is a well-known trickster and spoiled woman who thinks that she can get whatever she wants by offering juicy rewards but all who have succeeded then end up disappearing only to show up as corpses… That'll do some effect." Barrel smugly muttered as he typed into the keyboard.

"Splendid."

"… Did you hear? A guy found the kid but he barely escaped when he they were gonna dispose of him! That Ice Queen woman's a traitor when it comes to rewarding… I'm not gonna look for that kid anymore since they caught them in the end but I'm not gonna accept any more jobs from that bitch!"

"Oh yeah! Wish I knew where she hides at: I'd love to stab her on the neck from behind as payback!"

"Heh, heh. Immediate effect." "Copy" Forte grinned as he heard two Navis discuss close by.

"Good idea, Barrel!" Meijin told him.

"Thanks."

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The UFO invasion!"

"Shut up, Ridley."

"Scott Ridley, the director of _Alien_, huh…" Meijin muttered.

"Try to fix that. It's irritating me."

"Go, Gate Man."

"Roger."

"Alright… This armor can't be harmed by RPG – 7 or its own weapons: it's a very powerful alloy. But the rear module can de detached to make this module lighter and faster yet the gap in the connection makes it vulnerable as well as attacking the screws…" "Copy" Forte concluded as he climbed out of the cockpit.

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The Perseids meteor shower!"

"Shut up, Yamato."

"The Perseids meteor shower? That was back in August!"

"Hum… There's no – one here, Meijin."

"Something has to cause the voice unless it's a record smuggled into the circuitry and someone set a speaker there…" Meijin muttered.

"Then again who'd bother to go for such a complicated trick?" Barrel seemed to not see the point of it.

"Dunno. That ain't me." "Copy" Forte admitted as he checked the screws' state.

"Will this move?" Tengu Man asked.

"Sure thing… We only need to repair these gaps and it'll be to move perfectly enough. We should try to store it somewhere rather cut off and it could be bait to draw those two out." "Copy" Forte grinned.

"Tonight, my Program – kun brethren… The birth of Lucifer! The new mini-sun of the Solar System!"

"Shut up, Hermes."

"That was a rip-off I guess." "Copy" Forte grinned.

"I'm fed up with these." Barrel fumed.

"Copy" Forte giggled while Barrel grumbled under his breath…


	21. Chapter 21: Comradeship

**Chapter 21: Comradeship**

11:27 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Papa… Rock Man is…?"

"He's regained consciousness but the trauma was very strong. I had to be persistent because he was blaming himself again."

"I'm to blame, really. I tried to rush in hoping to save the day and instead this happened."

"I know, Netto, but you did what you can. We weren't ready for such an opponent…"

"Can I speak to him?"

"Try it, but I think he won't want to."

Netto stood up from sitting in a chair in the Science Labs lobby when Yuuichirou came out of the elevator: he looked sad and depressed while Yuuichirou was sighing: Netto followed him into the lab and he looked at Rock Man inside of the main computer sitting on the ground cross-legged and leaning forward.

"Rock Man…" Netto called out.

"You wanna pity me?" He replied with obvious defeatism.

"No! I don't want you to take the blame: I'm to blame. I rushed in again like always and got into a mess." Netto corrected.

"Can you even imagine that kind of suffering? I thought my skin would be burn away forever and I'd become a hideous monster which would be deleted given how it'd be impossible to rebuild me to what I was… The end of Hikari Saito…" He grimly muttered.

"But that didn't happen! It won't happen! You're repaired and you're alright! Nothing's changed!"

"Nothing's changed…" He trailed off.

"Yeah! We're still brothers! You're a cool guy!"

"Cool guy, huh…" He sounded skeptical.

"Isn't there something I can do to shake you outta that mood? Don't you want to play a game or see a movie?" Netto suggested.

"No."

"Maybe I can help?"

"Copy Forte?"

"Copy Forte. You came to pity me too? The morning email was a joke, right? Don't take me so lightly."

"Copy" Forte came in and took a step towards Rock Man but stopped when he saw his behavior even though Rock Man didn't change his pose and instead lowered his head so that the helmet's forehead shade would hide his gaze.

"No, I wasn't kidding. I thought you wanted to compete to see who scored the most points in the game." "Copy" Forte told him.

"I don't believe you. You try to make fun outta me. Get out of my life forever!" He grumbled.

"Saito! Don't turn down people who want to help." Yuuichirou scolded him.

"Do you this prankster really wants to help?"

"He's the one who saved you!"

"Huh? Wasn't that Blues?"

"No. It was him. And he defeated the brainwashed "Original" Forte too so he avenged you." Yuuichirou told him with a serious face.

"… Hum. I'll say "thanks" for the time being but that doesn't change that you're pulling pranks on people 90% of the time."

"But some joking is good to relieve stress."

"I agree with that. Come on, Saito. You've been through worse."

"Worse? Hah. When?"

"The "Bestialize" incidents in which you couldn't control your actions and in the end Colonel and Iris sacrificed themselves to help you and destroy Greiga for good…" Yuuichirou reminded him.

"Iris… Colonel… I'd forgotten about them… How idiotic of me… Pushing their sacrifice away… They did that for our sakes… For our future… It was my fault… I shouldn't have installed Greiga on me…" Rock Man muttered with increasing anger.

"No! You did the right thing because if not the WWW would've completed their project sooner and you wouldn't have been strong enough to defeat them…" Yuuichirou corrected him again.

"Stop pitying me, Papa. I know I'm an imbecile who does stupid things from time to time."

"No, Saito. You must stop deepening into the guilt because it won't lead you anywhere at all except to further guilt, despair and hopelessness: do you want them to get away with it?"

"They'll end up winning: Gospel, the WWW and Nebula were childish in the execution of their plots but these guys have learned from their mistakes and now they can easily throw the whole world into one hell of a chaos like with the incident a few days ago. Heh… Guess the time of my retirement has come… Someone will have to continue from where I leave off but I'm not going into battle again." He merely replied with what seemed to be a total lack of regard for anything.

"Copy" Forte suddenly placed his hands over his shoulders and Saito lifted his head to look at him yet his gaze kept on being hidden.

"The Rock Man I know isn't that defeatist. Didn't you say it a while ago? You beat all those freakish monsters, annihilated the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" and all! You're the "Light" of hope for most of the people out there! How did you stop Duo's comet? Where did that newfound strength come out from? Everyone encouraged you and in that hour of despair you and Hikari achieved a new form of power! And you saved Earth!"

"… That's…" He seemed to have been caught off by the reaction.

"Damn it, Rock Man! You're the _hero_! Don't you know you've got all those supporters out there? Guys!"

"Yeah! The Rock I know wouldn't give up just like that!"

"Guts! Go for it, Rock Man!"

"Rock Man – san: you can do it!"

"Stand up, Rock Man. Aren't you my rival?"

"Don't let Colonel's sacrifice be in vain."

Rock Man gasped and turned around to see Roll, Guts Man, Glyde, Blues and Search Man walking towards him: "Copy" Forte stepped away and let the others handle the matter.

"Guys…" He muttered.

"You're not alone, Rock! You have us too!" Roll reminded him.

"Guts, guts! We gotta settle the score, de guts!"

"Rock Man – san: it is good to help others but trying to blame oneself for a bad result is no good." Glyde politely told him.

"Where's the man who has surpassed me?" Blues challenged.

"I know he's still there: remember how Colonel assembled all of us and we freed the Internet from Nebula's hands when you weren't there. Will you shun his memory? It was his guidance which allowed us to even free the "Nebula Hole Area"…" Search Man reminded him.

"That doesn't look like the Rock Man who defeated me in an honorific battle…" Shadow Man told him as he popped out of nowhere.

"Rock Man – dono! Stand up and fight like a knight!" Knight Man rallied as he came in.

"Together we can do it!" Meddy added.

"As the "Team of Colonel"…!" Blues rallied.

"The "Team of Colonel"…!" Rock Man muttered as he managed to stand up and looked awed.

"See, Rock Man? Everyone is with us! That's how we've made it this far: because they believed on us and lend us their power! I'm sure that Colonel would've told us not to give it up. Right, Barrel – san?"

"Yeah. If Colonel were here he wouldn't have given up. He'd believe that there were infinite possibilities." Barrel affirmed.

"Guys… So you believe in me?"

"Have we ever not believed in you?" Blues asked back.

"… You've got a point." He realized.

"Rock Man. You're still young even though you've gone through multiple battles and you get confused easily because it's too much for your mind to handle… But don't forget one thing: you've got your companions and they're going to help you out." Yuuichirou smiled.

"Guys… Thank you… You did so much for me and everyone back in March too… I needed some boost, really… Lately I felt like I was being too lazy and not helpful at all… Thank you, really…" He began to form a smile and looked emotional.

"Let's pull back and leave that to the others: we should be going through an inspection to make sure we didn't get infected as we cleansed the Pentagon's Cyber World." Blues whispered.

"Roger."

The majority of the Navis pulled out and Roll, Glyde and Guts Man remained behind as Rock Man rubbed his eyes.

"How silly. I was gonna cry even." He admitted.

"Well. Sometimes it's good to let it out." Roll told him.

"Guts, Guts! You're a strong guy, Rock Man! You can do it!"

"If it's Rock Man – san then…"

"… Copy Forte? You there still?"

"Yeah. I left the stage to the others." He admitted as he walked back towards them.

"Regarding the game thing… Can we go now?"

"Now? Well… No problem. Shirakami is handling the store because he wants to vent off or something. Come through the side entrance: besides, it's not even 12 PM. We've got time to play a few rounds."

"Alright! I'll bring you home so that you can retrieve the Copy Roid, Saito – niisan." Netto smiled.

"I'm going on ahead. Meet ya there: I'm itching to pit Captain Falcon against your buddy Donkey Kong. _Show me your moves_! Heh, heh! Later, guys!"

"Copy" Forte made a "cool" pose for a moment and then ran off while Rock Man began to look relieved: he closed his eyes and smiled while apparently reflecting.

_That's right. I'm not alone. I've got my friends. We help each other. And the "Team of Colonel" that lives on despite Colonel's absence too… Colonel… His "Soul" is sleeping inside of me… _

"Alright, Rock Man! Plug Out! See you, Papa!"

"Take care!"

Netto ran off into the lobby and down the stairs but he wasn't looking ahead so he crashed with someone.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch, de masu!"

"Whoa! Higure – san!"

"Netto – kun! De masu! Look in front of you if you may! De masu! That hurt, de masu!"

"S-sorry. I got excited."

The person happened to be Higure who was rubbing his torso area while groaning and muttering "de masu" from time to time.

"Ah. Sorry, de masu. I'm in a rush, de masu. Number Man got infected with something and I want to make sure it isn't dangerous, de masu. Go on, de masu." Higure admitted.

"Tell me if he gets better!" Rock Man requested.

"But of course, de masu. See you around, de masu."

Netto ran down the stairs grinning and came out into the exterior: he rushed down the stairs and failed to spot a woman on her 30s.

She had loose brown hair which grew to until it was past the waist and green eyes: her face looked youth yet she had some slight traces of make-up to it.

She was wearing a red and black blouse with a long skirt and red heeled shoes.

Her overall height seemed to be a meter and seventy.

She currently had a smug smile on her face as she glanced at the lower end of a red Link PET which she was holding on her right hand.

"So that's Hikari Netto, eh? It's taken me time and effort but I've finally found this guy out. Tee, heh, heh. Run around like a silly kid while you can 'cause I'm going to defeat that so-precious Net Navi in a terrific style with my Net Navi… Tee, heh, heh." She muttered.

She then turned around and headed away for the harbor while Netto, not having noticed anything, headed into the station and climbed into a train after buying his ticket: he sat on a chair and picked a left-behind free edition newspaper which he distractedly read.

"No big deal… Well then! While you go do your games with the guy I'll be reading some more _manga_… Heh, heh!" Netto grinned.

"Fair enough."

"Manga Man came! Heh, heh, heh!"

12:32 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! T! What do you plan on doing with the Shagohod?"

"It is a good question, my lady. I was trying to think of a simple and not too complicated way of retrieving it."

"The purple gateway thing won't do?"

"No, my lady. Their top capacity is 5GB and the Shagohod as a whole is 54GB…"

"And split?"

"22 and 32."

"Huff. That's a heavy load. And you really had it _crawl_ all the way from Norway to Japan? There was no other way around?"

"I did use fiber optics lines yet they must be under surveillance… The best thing I can think of is to try to encode it as a Torrent file, load it into a server and then download it… It could pass a movie or a CD cluster with some little editing… And there so many people downloading torrents nowadays too…"

"Good. You're the tech genius so you handle that. Marco! What's going on with the hunt for my prey? You're not gonna tell me they stuffed him in a bunker, right?"

"Eh… No, my lady. Yet…"

Anaya Maria (wearing her usual leather set) was standing next to the armchair occupied by "Doctor T" which had been turned to face her and the man seemed to be bowing forward: Izono Marco came in and looked slightly nervous while Anaya directed a suspicious glare at him.

"What. He grew wings and flew to Brussels to demand asylum?"

"N-no, my lady… Barrel has started a new rumor which says Your Grace stabs all bounty hunters with a knife on the back of their necks when they complete their jobs and claim the monetary reward so… They've all abandoned…" He slowly reported.

"USELESS ASS-HOLES! MORONS! MEN! IT HAD TO BE MEN! ALWAYS WITH "MANLY" AND THEN THEY CHICKEN OUT AT A FUKCING RUMOR! I WANT TO RIP THEM APART SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY USING A CHAIN-SAW! JESS THE RIPPER! INVENT JESS THE RIPER AND RIP 'EM ALL!" She exploded into a fit of pure anger.

Both men remained silent as if fearing that they'd become the receiving ends of her anger: she instead picked a white sheet of paper and began to rip it into even smaller shards which she scattered on the ground: she then stormed off and they heard a door slam shut.

"FUCK THEM!"

"Oh man. Now what?" Marco sighed.

"I do not know, sir." "Doctor T" politely replied.

"Forget the manners. It's from man to man. After all I'm barely 5 years ahead of you." He made a dismissing gesture.

"But it would be rude to…"

"Fine, fine. What should we do?"

"Black Doom and Phoenix Slayer are still recovering. Angband's pending about 20 hours to get to full power and the new-breed Balrogs are being "cooked" but none will be ready before 11 hours… I'm trying to see how to retrieve the Shagohod too… And I'm cleansing any trails so that the traitor dogs can't sniff our hideout too…"

"In short: our hands are tied until those two recover. How much time do they need?" Marco summed up.

"Black Doom's going through an upgrading too so about 4 hours for both of them…"

"Man. It's at times like these when I'd wish to have some chewing gum: you wouldn't happen to be carrying some?"

"I am afraid not. But I could procure some."

"Forget it. I'll chew on my pen."

"Hmmm… Maybe there's another way to find Obihiro."

"And what's that? Create a Sherlock Holmes wannabe?" Marco asked with some sarcasm as he chewed on a plastic pen.

"Eh… No, sir… Use Hikari." He admitted.

"Use Hikari? How?" He lifted his eyebrows.

"Easy, sir. They'll eventually meet or have some communication: using the chip implant on his brain and the intravenous nanomachines "Copy" Forte and Shirakami set on him I could get the location…"

"I see. That'd be useful. It'd help boost up Her Grace's morale. We better stay away for some hours: knowing Her Grace she'll take some hours to cool it off. The only defect of Her Grace is these fits of anger. But no – one's perfect: all leaders across History have had some trouble sooner or later." Marco calmly muttered.

"Acknowledged. I'll get working on the matter immediately enough: after all _I_ designed those and they based them off some schematics I forgot around there in a foolish manner."

"But they'll end up benefitting us: sometimes mistakes can be turned into profits too." Marco grinned.

"True, sir."

"Alright. I'll go arrange everything. If it's not today there'll be another chance. I'm sure that a social kid like Hikari will end up going to see or contacting a companion. Heh."

Marco walked away and "Doctor T" stood up to straighten himself before sitting down on the armchair and bringing up a holographic screen: he began to type in commands and soon a map popped out signaling a small red spot in one building.

"Heh. You can't hide from the eyes of the _Big Brother_… Or should I call it _Zagadka_, the Enigma? Heh, heh, heh…"

He chuckled under his breath and formed a broad grin…


	22. Chapter 22: Medium leveled

**Chapter 22: Medium – leveled**

12:49 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Heh, heh! Good _manga_ yeah. Good story and some funny gag scenes there and there too."

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP

"Hmmm? The alarm clock? No! Wait. The surveillance alarm of our firewall…? Oh crap. And Rock Man happened to be out."

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP!

"Damn it. Gotta call a favor… Enzan. I'll return it."

Netto had been reading a _tankobon_ when the surveillance alarm rang out so he quickly picked his PET and dialed a number: Enzan appeared onscreen immediately enough.

"Enzan. I need a favor out of you. I'll return it."

"What's going on?"

"Some hostile Navi is coming closer to my PC's firewall: and Rock Man isn't here so I need your help to tackle them in case they're hostile. Pretty please?" He requested.

"Hmpf… Alright. Blues. Go there and check it out: try to check their ID first and then fight if they prove to be hostile. Use hi-speed lanes and don't mind using the Official ID either." Enzan made a smug smile.

"Acknowledged, Enzan – sama."

"Hra~h! Hah! Hra~h! Hah!"

"Damn. The guy's hitting the firewall. Luckily Rock Man made it to be a three-layered one with the same level of security for each layer: they'll need a while to even break through one and I'm sure Blues will be there by then." Netto muttered.

"We'll soon see if those two are back at it or if it's someone else totally unrelated…" Enzan muttered.

"You bastard. Identify yourself."

"Hmmm? Don't get in my way, punk."

"ONBA."

"ONBA! Hah! I heard they'd been annihilated."

"Doctor T told you that?"

"Dunno who that is."

"That voice… Enzan! Can't you send Blues' imagery to my PET so that I can visually ID the guy?" Netto requested.

"No big deal."

"Damn. I knew it! That guy's - Magnet Man! Former Gospel Admin!"

"Former Gospel Admin?" Enzan looked interested.

"Yeah. He almost made the plane I was travelling on my way back from Ameroupe crash because he was after a certain program which would allow them to complete the "Bug Fusion" project… He also intended to hijack the plane too. But Rock Man and I dusted the guy back then and saved the day. Funny thing: Obihiro was also onboard and that's where I first saw him. But he was concentrated working on his PC and he didn't pay attention to the others." Netto admitted.

"Strange. I'm sure Gauss Magnets is still imprisoned."

"True! Yet I was resurrected by a new employer."

"Angband? We got told you were there in the summer."

"That's true too but my new employer acts on their own account: they have a score to settle with Rock Man."

"Too bad. He went out. But since you bastard are former Gospel then I don't mind beating you on his place. Anyone who tries to attack Rock Man is an enemy of the ONBA too." Blues announced.

"Che. N – S Tackle!"

"Watch out, Blues! Behind you!"

"Huh! I'll say "thanks", Hikari."

"Damn it."

"Shadow clone? No, wait… Red and blue… Of course: opposing poles. He is called _Magnet_ Man for something then."

Blues dodged the "N-S Tackle" attack and Magnet Man grumbled as he punched the ground.

"Magnet Line! Mag Missile!"

He formed a row of south-pole-aligned-panels and began to shoot magnets at Blues who easily cut through them without having to bother way too much: a twitch formed over Magnet Man's right eye and he was getting annoyed.

"Mag Ball! Mag Ball! Mag Ball!"

"Is that all? Hah! Delta Ray Edge!"

Blues shone and moved around jumping forward then backward and southwards to form a triangular path: he then moved in front of Magnet Man and slashed him several times while always moving backwards: Magnet Man roared.

"Mag Missile! Mag Missile! Mag Missile!"

"And you're supposed to be a Gospel admin?" Enzan taunted.

"Che! Damned ONBA!" He cursed.

"Hit 'em hard!" A distorted voice commanded.

"Roger, _Shachou_!"

"A company president…? Maybe they're a friend of Magnets."

"It could be: Gauss Console was and continues to be an important company working in the electronic devices field." Enzan admitted.

"N –S Tackle!"

"Slow."

"What!"

Blues dodged and both Magnet Men crashed with each other thus the blue one got destroyed: Magnet Man growled and stepped back while seemingly thinking it over.

"_Shachou_… I think that I've run into some trouble…"

"Not "some" trouble but "THE" trouble… I'm the ONBA Ace Net Navi, Blues! I am a proud member of the "Darkloid Oppression Unit Team of Colonel" as well!" He announced as he aimed the Long Blade at him.

"Where's that blue bug? Aren't you supposed to be squishing it?"

"Bad timing, it'd seem. They went out and these guys came to defend the system instead." He grumbled.

"Hey! Don't call my friend a bug, you mean mister!" Netto protested over the line.

"Ki~h! Mean mister? How rude! I'm not even 30 yet!"

"So what? A mean mister is a mean mister!"

"I'm a woman, you meddling jellyfish! Tesla Magnets: only daughter to the grand Gauss Magnets and President of Gauss Console!" She yelled while she opened her communications window.

"So Magnets had a daughter… You look like you've put a pound of make-up on you. And I'm sure you're over 30 by now too." Enzan calmly told her with obvious taunting intention.

"How dare you, little punk!"

"Little punk or not I'm IPC's VP." Enzan calmly replied.

"What! Old man Ijuuin's kid?" She gasped.

"Yeah. Got a trouble with me speak with Icy Man."

"Ki~h! I need to blow something up!"

"Mag…!"

"Slow."

"Muwro~h!"

"Che! Plug Out!"

"So?"

"Damned bugs."

"Hey! We're people, not bugs!"

Magnet Man had tried to attack again but Blues hit him and he was forced to pull out: Enzan taunted Tesla Magnets and she began cursing again to which Netto argued back.

"I don't need to talk with rubbish!"

"Oh yeah? Then I think I'm going over there to arrest you on the charges of attempted firewall destruction, illegal Net Navi rebuilding, insults on a corporate person and on an ONBA – affiliated person… I'm sure the prosecutor could come up with another two or three too." Enzan listed without bothering to open his eyes and being quite calm.

"NO FREAKING WAY~!" She shrieked.

THUD!

"A-a~h! Tesla – sama! Tesla – sama! Someone call the ambulance! Tesla – sama! Tesla – sama!" Magnet Man began to yell as the screen became empty.

"Hmpf… That's what happens to a spoiled kid when they realize they can't have everything in life." Enzan smugly announced.

"I owe you one."

"Bah. Don't mind it. I'll have fun bringing that witch to trial. I missed a chance to shine. See you, Hikari."

Netto blinked him an eye, Enzan shrugged and Blues formed a smile…

12:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So? How does it feel like, Rock Man?"

"Man. You do it splendidly."

"Heh, heh. Just tell if you feel uncomfortable."

"Alright."

Saito was laying face-up on "Copy" Forte's room bed: the room was similar in design to Shirakami's but he had a _Star Wars Episode V: the Empire Strikes Back_ poster.

Saito had some cylindrical black leather pieces on his wrists and ankles which were connected so that his arms were immobilized and extended to full length while a black leather band spanning from ankle to ankle kept his legs wide open.

He had a collar on his neck, a black wool blindfold and two small metallic cups on his nipples connected by a chain: "Copy" Forte had placed a vibrator toy on his insides and was now rubbing Saito's penis with his right hand as he looked at his face from the right having a smile on his face.

"You felt jealous that Hikari got the exciting thing?"

"Oh yeah. When I saw that Shirakami had been leveling up timidly given Netto's requests then I decided I wouldn't fall behind. Besides: this isn't that bad when you're willing to do it and can enjoy it. You haven't had trouble with those guys five blocks north?" Saito asked.

"Oh no. We showed them we're the real stuff with some shots into the walls and they ran away like they were gonna be slaughtered alive: we sometimes spy on them and then we rely the info to the police so they can catch them red-handed." "Copy" Forte admitted.

"This thing in my insides feels so good… You're teasing my penis so slowly, too… You want me to hold back and to content myself with this, eh?"

"Yeah. That's to keep greediness at bay and learn that you gotta have it the boss' pace."

"I don't mind, really. And this method is fun. The blindfold makes it challenging and it sharpens the ears… I wanted to ask you: what's this air current I keep on hearing?"

"Oh, that? The air duct linking our rooms… We decided not to seal it up in case something was to happen to one of our rooms while only one of us was here…" "Copy" Forte smiled.

"Clever. Say. When did you start to build up obsession over me?"

"Well… To be honest... Right after the Duo incident. That's when I created Shirakami but he quickly developed his personality and had me pact that I wouldn't use him as a replacement for you. We went abroad for a little while to have some thrill and Shirakami ended up defeating Laser Man's residual data… After that we ended up finding out about Nebula and we staged that of March… Feels like years ago by now but I know it's been nine months…" He narrated.

"Yeah. It feels like that to me… So during the whole Cyber City mess you guys were travelling around and sightseeing?"

"Yeah. That of the "Evil Kingdom" was something we came up with to add more fear to the atmosphere and try to come up with a thriller scene: but as you can see we really didn't intend to do that."

"I know. That's when that "Witch – Queen of Angmar" jumped into the picture and ended up causing my baptism of fire… I don't want to go through that nightmare ever again but this feels good enough. I don't want to go past this." Saito sighed.

"Sorry. I brought up a bad memory."

"Don't mind it… Make me release already… I'm burning with impatience and I want to feel your penis inside of me…" Saito pleaded.

"Heh, heh. Alright, alright. Get ready." "Copy" Forte grinned.

"I'm _always_ ready."

"He who warns a traitor is not or so they use to say. I'm just going by the old-fashioned motto…"

"Copy" Forte began to rub Saito's penis at a faster speed and Saito emitted some low-toned moans before he gasped and ended up releasing: "Copy" Forte picked some of it with his fingers and licked it up before he laid face-up on the bed and lifted Saito to then slowly make him slide down his body and allow for his penis to be inserted into his insides in a slow and teasing manner: Saito moaned and "Copy" Forte sneered as he softly pulled the chain of the cups with the right hand and softly moved the left one right and left.

"Good… Feels incredible! Oh man! I want more! This is so different from when I do it with Netto… Give me more!"

"You're a bit demanding when you want to, Rock Man."

"Oh come on. Call me Saito already, C Forte."

"C Forte? Well… That sounds catchy... Saito." He grinned.

"Yeah. Like that was my only name… It sounds better. That's my real self after all!" Saito grinned.

"Good. I'm going to start moving so get ready."

"Fine!"

"Copy" Forte began to push and pull Saito down and up at a set pace and Saito moaned: "Copy" Forte grinned and increased the vibrator's power to max: Saito started a series of quick and prolonged moans while "Copy" Forte increased the pace and licked the rear of his right ear.

"Too much for you, Saito? Or not enough? We'll soon see but your penis tells me you're enjoying this to the fullest. We're soon gonna see how excited it really is… Heh, heh, heh."

He began to rub it again while Saito couldn't stop moaning: "Copy" Forte hummed the _Imperial March_ tune and kept on rubbing the penis until Saito emitted one long prolonged moan and released: "Copy" Forte smiled as he felt Saito's insides closing into his own penis and how he released thus overfilling Saito's insides: he detached from Saito and place him on the bed while he rubbed his right cheek.

"Wanna try the six-nine next?" He asked.

Saito quickly nodded in affirmation so "Copy" Forte got into position and began to suck on Saito's penis while he sucked on "Copy" Forte's one: the bigger guy giggled under his breath.

_These moans are like music to my ears. Oh man. I feel so fortunate to be able to make out with him in friendly S&M… And he's perfect in everything too: I guess luck's smiling at me as of late._

Saito suddenly released again and "Copy" Forte felt his release too so he got into a new position and embraced him close to him to kiss him and dive into the passion: "Copy" Forte began to pull out and push in the vibrator and Saito got hard again: he kept on doing that until Saito released yet again and "Copy" Forte broke the kiss: he frowned and seemed to realize something given how Saito automatically tilted his head to the left and had a broad grin on his face.

"Whoa. He fell asleep from the effort and tiredness… Guess I called him too abruptly after he'd barely survived that encounter with ani-ue-sama earlier today… I think I'll have to train seriously too because he's gonna be stronger by the next time he shows up. Speaking of strong guys and everything… I've been wondering… Could it be…? Nah. I'm just jumping to conclusions… I've been seeing too much science - fiction… Heh, heh, heh, heh…" He muttered as he thought aloud with a frown but then dismissed the idea and made a small chuckle.

He unlocked Saito's arms and removed the band spreading his legs wide to close them: he then took out the blindfold and saw that he was indeed sleeping: "Copy" Forte hugged him and then pulled the covers over them to cover up to their necks.

"Heh, heh, heh… We're gonna have a little nap, Saito. And welcome to the club… Well. Once he goes back I'll go handle the customers: orders have increased now that Christmas is close by… And no villains are gonna ruin the mood of the celebration! My word!"

He smiled and fell asleep too while hugging Saito and enjoying this intimate moment amongst them…

13:01 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. We're almost ready. We're going to jump out into the open by tomorrow. They're gonna need our help."

"Good enough… How should we approach them?"

"Well. You've already made contact with Serenade, right?"

"Yeah, _Shachou_. He seems to trust us for the time being. Oh, I see. He's a person who can provide a reliable profile of us…"

An unidentified Net Navi with some red glowing spots on his body was talking with the man known as Zataki Tosho inside of the same living room where he'd been meeting with the other two gentlemen: Zataki was sitting while the Navi was standing in front of him: the room had the blinders lowered despite it being the morning and was largely unlit thus hiding most of the Navi because it was out of the radius provided by the small portable light set in the midst of the table.

"My point exactly. I still don't know the true name of that "Doctor T" but I'm sure we'll figure it out sooner or later. It'd seem though that Maria has set hunters after that other man's trail… Yeah, Kanou Shade… There's no doubt that he's another Admin but I dunno if he came before or after me to begin with…" Zataki admitted.

"So we should count on him. Well. If he's helped the ONBA this much sometimes sticking his neck out and getting into real danger then he's quite devoted to help us out, I'd say." The Navi shrugged.

"You've got a point too. We'll know for certain tomorrow. This will boost both ours' and their morale too so "Doctor T" and Maria will have it hard countering this. Let's leave Black Doom up to Zero but if "Phoenix Slayer" proves to be too much for "Copy" Forte then you go and take them down, alright?" Zataki instructed.

"Roger. It's time to make the purple-colored toothed flying shoes with spiked heels rain down on them." The Navi grinned.

He chuckled but Zataki didn't find it funny…


	23. Chapter 23: Underground Hammer

**Chapter 23: Underground Hammer**

07:48 AM (Norway Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Heh, heh, heh."

"What's so funny? _Senpai_."

"A little project got completed… A new weapon… For _you_ to wield. How's that like?"

"Whoa. A new weapon for me…!"

"Sure thing. Grond: Underground Hammer!"

"Grond! Sounds cool, _senpai_!"

"Here. Let's go test it out."

Black Doom and Phoenix Slayer had been hovering above one of boiling magma pits when something was lifted from it and given to Crimson Slayer: it looked like a normal hammer yet its central part was made of steel and both ends were black and very sharp made of some unknown alloy: a glow of red fire surrounded it as well.

"Looks strong! So what am I supposed to squish with this?"

"Try in on that new-breed Balrog."

A new-breed Balrog, differentiated due to its more blackish body and the more yellowish flames surrounding him emerged from the magma and flew towards Phoenix Slayer: he lifted the hammer and hit the head of the Balrog thus dissipating its flames which began to coil around the hammer and Phoenix Slayer added a second blow which cracked open the monster's head and he fell into the magma to sink there.

"With this weapon you'll crush all resistance. We've got a job: secure the Shagohod and proceed with its retrieval. It's almost 16 PM in Japan and they must be tired from restoring order to the Pentagon. Let's go: victory is waiting for us!" Black Doom chuckled.

"Roger! I'm ready to squish some bugs!"

16:27 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Magnet Man, eh? And Tesla Magnets… But, well. Blues and Enzan – kun will handle that."

"How was it?"

"Exciting."

"That's good. See? There's no need to be so hostile."

"Guess you're right. Anyway, I won't fall behind but I won't go over the edge either."

"That's the wise thing to do."

Netto and Saito were chatting inside of their bedroom: Saito was the one on the bed while Netto was working on something using the PC: Saito looked amused as he placed his hands behind his head and looked towards the ceiling.

"So… You've thought of Christmas? Netto." Saito asked.

"Of course. I've been doing some arrangements." Netto grinned back as he looked over his shoulder.

"I also have. Heh, heh. I wasn't smart enough to fully realize what was going on back then… Well. Doesn't matter…"

"Don't think of gloomy things… Hmmm? Access request… Oh. Blues. I'll let him in." Netto looked at some info which came up.

"Hello there. We've arrested Magnets. But some trouble has popped out in End Area… The transmission systems got attacked and it's undergoing repairs. But now we've got something going in the Shachihoko Castle Server and I'd appreciate your cooperation." He told them.

"The End City Castle, then… I should go to the scene: Enzan is heading there too?" Netto asked as he quickly stood up.

"Yeah. We'll go on ahead and scout to see what's going on. Expect you there. Later."

"You heard the stuff, Saito – niisan, so…"

"Wait. Let's go together just in case: I'm still a Net Navi and I might be able to help out in something." Saito replied as he jumped off the bed and stood in the room.

"Let's leave a note for Mama and head there ASAP."

"Yeah. We should hurry."

Both ran downstairs: Netto hastily scribbled a note which he stuck to the fridge's door before they put on their sneakers and headed out into the street: they descended into the Metro Line Station and at that precise moment the power went out and emergency lighting came in: the ten or twenty passengers waiting for the train gasped.

"Damn. Power outage? Too much of a coincidence. Someone here wants to stop us from reaching End City." Netto growled.

"Huh? Watch out!"

Saito suddenly tackled Netto to the ground as something flew across the air and got stuck into an advert: that something turned out to be a scout knife and they were suddenly aware of a familiar purple glint of eyes and the glow of crimson hair.

"Black Doom! It had to be you." Saito growled.

"Hmpf… You won't get in the way of Grond."

"Grond? Who's that? Your newest ace-in-the-hole?"

"Yeah. Grond will squish Blues as if the guy was an ant."

"Damn. We can't fight here: we'd be risking the safety of the passengers then… We gotta carry this fight to the outside…" Saito muttered while forming a grimace.

"So, Takeda. What will you think of today?"

"Takeda? Takeda Shingen? That was a pretty lame joke."

"Oi. You bully. Don't pick on guys smaller than you." A voice taunted.

"Who the hell?"

"Find me, Halloween rip-off."

"Che! I'll destroy you!"

Black Doom ran off and they heard him performing a Plug – In into a machine: the twins rushed in that direction and found the inactive Copy Roid belonging to Black Doom: an interphone device ahead of them was frizzling and suddenly the IR port short-circuited and blew up: Saito quickly picked the Copy Roid and ran upstairs into the surface followed by Netto, surprised at his reaction: Saito then spotted a garbage container and threw the thing inside and not a moment too soon: it self-detonated and blew up into several fragments.

"I picked an ultrasound signal ordering it to self-destroy… And whoever lured Black Doom away didn't want us to follow them so I guess they're on our side. Maybe it was Mr. Shade."

"Were you talking about me? Gentlemen."

"Kanou – san!"

Kanou Shade walked up to them and they could see that he had some slight bruises and hits on his head and face.

"Sorry for the looks: some of those bounty hunters weren't easy to shake off but I managed thanks to my knowledge in martial arts."

"Did you command your Navi to fight Black Doom?" Saito asked.

"What? No. I've just arrived."

"Maybe it was Search Man?" Netto asked.

"Could be but…" Saito seemed to be doubtful.

"By the way, is the Metro working? I heard there's trouble in End City and wanted to see if I could help."

"Oh heck! We were forgetting about that! Please come with us, Kanou – san: you might be able to help us!" Netto gasped.

Kanou Shade seemed to lift his eyebrows behind the sunglasses but followed them into the now restored-to-calm station: a train soon came in and they climbed inside while Netto dialed Enzans' number.

"The number you are trying to reach is out of range or switched off. Please try again." The usual automated message replied.

"Damn. With the antenna of the communications system down most calls can't reach their target… We need to get there. Black Doom mentioned someone named "Grond" and Blues could be in trouble. Some Navi lead Black Doom away to fight in an isolated environment after he tried to start a chaos." Netto grumbled.

"Some Navi… Yet he didn't ID himself?"

"No. And I didn't recognize his voice." Saito admitted.

"Hmmm… Maybe the other admin is on the move."

"The 3rd admin? What kind of person is he, anyway?"

"Well. He was the main instigator of Maria's dethroning and I just provided some extra information… But I don't know if he's previous to "Doctor T" or not. Yet I'd say he's trustable from what little information I have on him: he was to be the target of the bomb-rigged car with another two important executives…" He admitted.

"Hum. Then maybe he'll introduce himself one day?"

"I think so: some curious Navis have been going up and down the Reverse Internet on requests from Serenade…"

"Next station: End City."

"This is our station! Let's hope we're not too late." Netto gasped.

They jumped down from the train and rushed outside: they spotted how one of the "Shachihoko" statues was surrounded by loose electricity and how some electrical bolts had jumped around opening holes on the wood and starting fires which were being put out: Netto's PET rang and he drew it: Enzan showed up onscreen.

"What the FUCK took you so long, Hikari!"

"Black Doom got in the way! We got a helping hand!"

"Damn it. Black Doom there. Now I see why the freak wasn't here and his freshman was sent instead."

"By freshman you mean "Original" Forte? Isn't there a guy named "Grond" there too?" Netto asked.

"Grond's the name of some damned strong hammer the guy got out of the blue and which is shattering whole pieces of the server apart thus turning it berserk like Nebula did: if I don't stop the damned freshman now this thing will explode for real! Come up here and let's pour strengths!" Enzan growled.

"Roger!"

The group rushed up through the empty castle and reached the roof: Enzan was standing at some distance from the server and looking at his PET so Saito immediately aimed his hands at the server and Kanou Shade drew his Link PET.

"Plug In! Transmission!"

When they came inside both were greeted with a panorama of lack of lighting, broken patches of ground, peeled off surfaces, mutilated Program – kuns and fires: they saw flashes further inside.

"We're trying to hold out ground in the entrance of sector 4 and stop the guy from reaching the server itself but it isn't being easy. Sorry, but you'll have to find a way through there." Enzan told them.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Grond the Grand! The Underground Hammer born of the heat and magma of Angband shall bring ruin to this world!"

"Tank Cannon!"

"No matter how much you attack me you won't stop me: as long as I hold on Grond then I can destroy the whole Cyber World!"

"I won't let you!"

"Give it up."

"Huh? Heh! The blue bug came to try again: wasn't my punishment hot enough for you? Now you wanna get squished too?"

"No. I'm going to go all out today. And stop you."

"I'm ready to back up."

Rock Man and Kanou Shade's Navi made it to the scene while Phoenix Slayer swung the hammer around like mad: he stopped to regard his opponents and grinned at them: Rock Man looked serious however and his stare made even Phoenix Slayer lose confidence and actually step back in doubt as energy began to build up around him and his body began to glow with cyan and azure glows.

"Synchronism level: 97%... 98%... 99%... 100%! Full Synchro! Now: this ends here and now! CHARGE SHOT!"

Energy began to build up on his buster and he shot a continuous beam of cyan-colored energy at the ruby: it shattered the force field and then hit the ruby fully thus shattering it and revealing the azure jewel beneath it: the enemy lost the traces of life to his eyes and collapsed into the ground with the hammer harmlessly hitting the ground next to him: Rock Man panted while Blues seemed to have been taken aback.

"Guess we save the day. The server's stopped acting wild." Netto calmly commented as if to break the ice.

"Y-yeah. Guess we did." Enzan timidly muttered.

"Impressive." Kanou Shade muttered with obvious awe.

"O~w… My head… What a headache… Damn it. What have I been doing and why does my body feel so different?"

"Original" Forte groaned and began to wake up while clutching his forehead and seemingly feeling a strong headache: the others quickly pulled out while he sluggishly stood up and looked around at the destruction around him with obvious confusion: he still looked dizzy and sluggish.

"I was fighting the Balrogs… And then what? How did I get this armor and why does my body feel so different? Where did my cloak go off to? I can't really remember anything else…" He muttered.

"So there you are. You squished those bugs? I had one hell of a time trying to run off from an invisible Navi who cornered me but I managed to dupe them with the 3D image. Now, Phoenix Slayer, deliver the finishing blow and destroy the server." Black Doom's voice rang out.

"Original" Forte suddenly formed a grimace and his eyes began to burn with obvious hatred and fury: he drew his "Dark Arm Blades" (which had returned to normal) and flew towards Black Doom who barely brought his sword out in time.

"Damn it. They actually broke the control device?"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU WERE CONTROLLING ME LIKE I WAS YOUR OWN PERSONAL PUPPET!" He roared.

"So what? All's fair in war."

"Nobody messes with my mind! Nobody and no – one! Never! I'll grind you into dust!" He roared next.

"Do you think we're idiots?" Black Doom shot back.

"What?"

"Hmpf!"

The ruby suddenly formed again over "Original" Forte's bluish jewel and he clutched his head in agony as it seemingly began to try to control him again.

"Deepen into the pain and agony! You belong to the Kingdom of Angband until the end of all times!" Black Doom laughed.

"You sunnuva! I'll get you for this…! Grah! Out of my mind! This pain! This pain…! THIS PAIN!" He roared.

"Feed on it! Let it grow stronger: become a vicious cycle with no end and then march alongside our Lord towards victory!"

"It won't end like this! I'm the strongest in the Cyber World! I won't become a mere puppet!" He roared.

"Once you pledge loyalty to the Great Master then that's a life-long pact, you fool! You can't run away from your fate." Black Doom folded his arms and taunted him.

"Wrugra~h!"

"Original" Forte was surrounded in flames as the ruby pulsated very quickly and his eyes lost the trace of life to them so he collapsed into the ground again and Black Doom quickly caught him to jump inside of a gateway which immediately closed: a soft THUD rang out followed by a little growl.

"Damn it. I finally make it through this mayhem and I'm one second too late to follow the guy: had me chase him half-way across the nation with that 3D image thing which I should've been able to tell apart but no~, I had to be fooled." A voice grumbled.

"Come back, O. We were close: maybe we'll have a better chance next time. But I've gotten some info on the forensic analysis of the scout knife the punk used a while ago… He might have left a hint behind without realizing it." Zataki commanded.

"Alright. We're not supposed to make a full debut until tomorrow anyway so…" The invisible Navi seemed to shrug his shoulders.

He suddenly noticed the abandoned Grond weapon and picked it up to study it from several angles.

"We should try to dissect this before Black Doom catches up that they've forgotten it: he'll be hysterical enough trapping "Original" Forte in a cocoon again and trying to completely brainwash him again. The other problem is that they've retrieved the Shagohod and that Angmar keeps on heating up. Heck, going there will require some kind of electromagnetic field to shield our bodies like the ones used to control the flow of plasma and the volume they encompass." The Navi exposed.

_We're gonna end this pointless war no matter what it takes!_

16:43 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Good news, my lady. I found the target at last. There's another promising target there too. Here's the file, my lady…"

"Lemme see… Hmmm… This gives me ideas… Just to be on the safe side we'll use the F38 locale… It's clean and equipped yet it isn't occupied by anyone… No – one will put tabs to that as long as we only use the basement. We should start the preparations by now. And don't worry: we'll bring four or five of our bodyguards with us plus your weapons to disable Copy Roids."

"As you desire, my lady."

"Doctor T" brought some information to Anaya and she looked amused as she read some printed sheets: an evil grin formed on her face and she had that lustful sparkle to her eyes.

"We retrieved Forte and we're going to strengthen the control over him: the guy's too good of a power-house to let go of…"

"Alright, alright. By the way, I'll be in need of Black Doom. You don't mind borrowing him?"

"Of course not, my lady. Anything thou desire shall be realized."

"Heh! Good motto. Well then. We'll act in the evening when the night begins to kick in. Black Doom will eliminate any resistance and then our agents will get the prey: the getaway van will be ready there and before they can blink twice we'll be kilometers away. I'm a genius." She muttered aloud with a grin.

She walked off and her evil and megalomaniac laughter rang out: "Doctor T" seemed to find it queer while Izono came in while looking at the door she'd gone out through.

"When Her Grace laughs like that then there's a tragedy about to knock at the door. I just know it." He grimly muttered.

"Doctor T" appeared to gulp and nervously nodded in agreement while Izono rolled his eyes in defeat…


	24. Chapter 24: Unending torment

**Chapter 24: Unending torment**

19:37 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 22nd…

"… Whoa. That's _some_ destruction."

"Hard to believe it's come to these ends…"

"Cheer up, Urakawa! At least we can fight them back."

"You're right, Obihiro – kun. I just tend to be gloomy from time to time despite Serenade's always optimistic and calm nature."

"Yo! Obihiro. It'd seem there are some guys out there fighting the thugs in the Reverse Internet and they're pretty cool from the rumors."

"Indeed, Obihiro – sama."

"Oh. Grand and Freeze Man. So, did you get to spot them?"

Obihiro Shun and Urakawa Mamoru were sharing a room in the Urakawa Inn next to the Yoka Yoka Village Zoo: their room looked out into the _onsen_ pool behind them and evening was setting in: Mamoru wore jeans, a brown sleeveless vest over a brown long-sleeved shirt and brownish socks as well while Obihiro sported his usual set of clothes.

"Sadly no. It'd seem they can turn invisible to sneak on the thugs so it's hard to know where they'll come from." Grand admitted.

"But I saw one of them fight with a pyramidal green energy sword which he used in a masterful manner to defeat an ambush by 11 grunts and 33 SP Viruses in less than 90 seconds…" Freeze Man let out.

"Whoa. That's some power!" Mamoru whistled in surprise.

"Sure it is. We should be glad they're on our side."

"Hmmm… I can smell the dinner: spring rolls and noodles… Tamako neesan sure makes nice dinners and is a strong Net Battler. I remember seeing her in the N1 Grand Prix over the TV a few days before I met Netto – kun." Mamoru suddenly sniffed.

"Hum. My stomach's rumbling too."

"Too bad." A voice rang out.

They barely had the time to see Black Doom getting in through the window when a scandal formed on the lower floors: the sliding doors to their room were pulled open in a brusque manner: four to six men on their 30s and with _Yakuza _looks jumped on the two teens and quickly knocked them out before running off with them: Black Doom looked at the holograms of Grand and Freeze Man and made a mocking gesture before running off.

"Damn it! They found us!" Grand hissed.

"Quick! They must have a van nearby. We must ride on it!"

Both Navis jumped out using the local Wi-Fi network and quickly entered a navy blue van which was already engaged just as it accelerated and drove away at top speed from the area: Freeze Man made the "silence" sign to Grand and they snuck into a blind spot of the van's Cyber World to escape the vigilance of Black Doom who was looking around him as if to check no – one had come onboard.

"Time to destination: 15 minutes. You bunch of grunts: these orders come from IQ – sama and they forbid you from touching the playthings: you'll have others to use but these are reserved for IQ – sama." Black Doom announced through a holographic screen.

"You better obey. If not our heads will roll across the ground." One of the grunts warned the others.

"I know, Boss."

"Good. Do you get it as well, you guys?"

"Yeah, Boss." The other four replied.

"Fine. Remember to go by the appointed route to shake off our trail and make it harder for the cops to find us. By the time they manage to they'll walk into a death trap. Heh, heh, heh." Black Doom chuckled.

Both Freeze Man and Grand cursed under their breaths and were obviously angered…

20:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Setup complete, my lady. We can start anytime."

"Good, good… Let's see… Hum! Good bodies… Good flesh: and their poses are totally erotic. Heh, heh, heh. Let's wake them up and then start the ritual… Heh, heh, heh."

"Roger, my lady."

Anaya walked into a basement room while wearing her leather set plus having a plastic extensible corrective stick on her hands: Izono had changed his evening suit for a blue overall and a cap plus black boots that made him look like a recruit.

The basement room contained a triangular and rather pyramidal wooden horse with four legs set on the center of it with two portable radiator machines set not too far from it and aiming upwards to provide heat into the air around it.

Sitting atop it were both Obihiro and Urakawa stripped of all clothing and having ropes tied slightly below their shoulders but over their nipples and another one where the torso began: these ropes kept their arms behind their backs placed one above the other and another set of ropes kept the wrists tied to each other thus immobilizing them: their legs had been compacted with ropes around the hips and near the knees.

They also had a leather collar around their necks connecting them with a red string: lastly they also had black wool blindfolds over their eyes and those red spheroids with leather bands clogging their mouths.

Two thick vibrators had been affixed to the frame of the wooden horse: they were colored black and had spots over their surfaces: a small rotating disc with a plastic base had been erected at the very apex of the pyramid and two thin strings expanded from it to then be tied below each boys' penis' heads.

The boys also had two metallic cups on their nipples which incorporated a small weight to pull them down as well as two pink-colored capsule-shaped objects set above and below each nipple and attached with cello.

These pink objects had wires emerging with them which merged into one when they reached what looked like simplified remotes with one lever that had been strapped to each of their hips: the penises also had black leather bands surrounding the balls and tightened around the bases of each one plus a total of eight wooden clothes pegs set on each side of their balls: a bell-shaped plastic object had been set to cover their penis' heads too and they had a remote strapped to the horse itself.

Izono was also holding two strings of white-colored plastic beads on his hands which Anaya picked and began to stuff up both boys' insides while an evil smile formed over her face.

"Good. We're ready… Let's start it up. Did you apply lotion to the anal vibrators?" Anaya asked.

"I did, my lady."

"Did you measure the dose?"

"I did, my lady."

"Fair enough. Hmmm… Let's start with the nipples."

She began to pull the levers on the remotes up and the capsules began to vibrate: yet both boys seemed to not notice it so Anaya turned on the ones on their penises: this did awaken them brusquely and they looked around in a confused manner.

"Welcome to my Secret Empire. Obihiro Shun. Urakawa Mamoru. You've descended into a living_ Naraku_ from which there's no escape. I'd rather call it an _Infinite Naraku_!" She announced.

Both panicked and tried to stand up yet they began to slide down the vibrators given some lotion applied to them: they seemed to find the slow descent agonizing already and Anaya smirked as she drew two black remotes and turned them on at the "MAX" position: the vibrators began to rotate upon their axis clockwise and both boys began to struggle while pulling each other forth and back.

"Do you realize the agony of this? Heh, heh, heh."

"Allow me, my lady. You will be pulling each other but you'll never make contact: any attempts to escape will be rendered useless by the lotion in the anal vibrators which will make you slide down faster and faster with each attempt because your hips won't have enough strength to sustain you two. And you can't release either because we've tightened the base of your cocks and stuffed a long string of beads inside of your cocks which reach all the way in to the spot where the urine is accumulated at so you can't pee either. The vibration will drive your body crazy and those ball-gags will make you be expelling drool without stop. And you'll eventually break down too… I should add that you'll be automatically sucking in those anal beads too which will climb up your insides… We're recording this on video too for posterity. So struggle around for a while to turn our audience on." Izono laughed as he explained.

"Well explained. But these need a lesson."

She began to hit Obihiro's ass with the stick leaving marks there and then moved on to hit his penis from both sides: she repeated the same procedure for Urakawa too and laughed.

"I'm the Ice Queen, ruler of the Secret Empire. No – one escapes my clutches. Absolutely no – one. Struggle! Agonize! Cry! Despair! And then become mere shells which will only serve as food for the grunts: they're eager to stuff their cocks in all of your bodies. And remember: women will always be superior to you! No matter what! This is preventive psychology of the 21st century to turn men into slaves of women!" Anaya laughed as she kept on spanking their penises.

"Let us sit down and enjoy the show… The thugs are keeping watch of our surroundings and these rooms are all sound-proof. Besides the entry door needs a 4-digit password which only I and Her Grace know. No – one shall get in the way." Izono chuckled.

Both boys began to drool and some of it fell down into their bodies as they tried to arch their bodies forward so as to escape from the vibrator but they collapsed in the attempt and slid down with the vibrator penetrating deeper into them: both villains laughed and didn't notice the control panel for the door turning off silently and the door unlocking.

"Freeze." Someone commanded.

"Who the hell!"

"The traitor dog!"

"_Vadous_."

Zataki Tosho or Vadous came into the room while holding a Beretta M9 pistol on his right hand: his eyes displayed a cold anger barely held at bay as he walked over to them.

"I've found you. The grunts up there? Locked in their room. The alarm systems? Disabled. All of your defenses have failed thanks to the collaboration of a certain duo." He coolly announced.

"Give me a hand, Grand. We need to free them!"

"Roger, _Senpai_!"

Freeze Man and Grand rushed into the room and Grand quickly used a knife tossed in the ground to cut the ropes: he quickly unfastened the leather bands, took off the bell – shaped vibrator and pulled out the cyan plastic beads by the ring on their beginning: both boys arched backwards and released thus staining each other before fainting: Freeze Man was looming over the two criminals to keep them at bay while Grand removed all of the stuff attached to them and lifted them free from the wooden horse's structure to deposit them on the ground with care.

"So you've showed your hide around, Vadous!" Anaya hissed.

"Yeah. Where's "T" or whatever his name is?"

"Not here." Izono sneered.

"Find me, Holmes." The voice of "Doctor T" challenged through a speaker somewhere.

"So you're Moriarty."

"And Kanou Shade is Watson."

"Very funny."

"And you'd be better off not thinking you've won the day, Vadous, my nemesis! I've got some aces up my sleeves and I can conjure a storm all the way from my mansion in Sittaford."

"Sittaford? King Land…?" Vadous frowned.

"I say yo and behold!"

A blinding flash filled the room and when it cleared both villains were nowhere to be seen and the only thing left was a novel titled _The Sittaford Mystery_ which Vadous picked with his left hand.

"Agatha Christie, huh." He muttered with some annoyance.

"I felt a distortion in the Time-Space… Some kind of anomaly…" Freeze Man admitted.

"Yeah. The purple warp trick… Anyway… Both police and the ambulance should be getting here soon. I'm worried about Urakawa: even though he was successfully operated of HBD despite Plant Man's rampage and everything you never know with these things… I hope it wasn't too much for his heart. But if the thing lasted under three minutes then they should be mentally safe." Vadous sighed.

"Alright. Thanks for your help."

"Don't mind it. I wouldn't let someone who tried to blow me up with another two persons get away with it. A tragedy barely 48 hours before Christmas' Eve… That T bastard is fond of dramatics! And it was pretty obvious that Obihiro was staying with Urakawa but I didn't think they'd go for it in such a desperate manner… Che." He grumbled.

The sound of police cars rang out while Vadous spotted the boys' clothes tossed in a heap in one corner so he began to dress them back while they remained unconscious: he hid the Beretta M9 in the inner breast pocket as some police officers came in along with two ambulance nurses: they looked around and seemed to understand what was going on upon seeing the scenery.

"Bring those two children to the hospital."

"Roger."

"These Net Navis are affiliates of the ONBA." Vadous told the police officers.

"Of course they are." A familiar voice confirmed.

Barrel came inside of the room while having his usual serious face and Vadous looked slightly surprised.

"Mr. Barrel. We hadn't seen each other since we crossed paths at the police station. It feels so long ago."

"True. Too many things have happened and now we have a tragedy: but both yours and my thinking were correct: the whole thing was too bizarre to be so easily explained away." Barrel admitted.

"Indeed. Tomorrow morning I'll introduce myself by coming to the Science Labs: I've been hunting all possible trails and I've ended up knowing nothing else." Vadous sighed.

"Good."

"Good evening."

"See you."

Vadous came out while Barrel nodded at the two Net Navis as he brought Obihiro's Link PET decorated with Grand's color and emblem: both returned there and left the Copy Roids behind: Barrel saw how the ambulance nurses took both boys away while he made a grimace upon seeing the wooden horse: he kicked it to the ground with his right foot and began to crush it with his feet until it was splintered and shattered in several spots: he stopped to catch his breath.

"Damned psycho. Psychos like them deserve being gallows-bird! I'll see to it if necessary… No. That'd be too sweet of an outcome. Let them rot away forever with the souls of their victims chasing them into the depths of the _Naraku_…!" He cursed.

He walked out a brisk pace while clutching his right fist…

20:47 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello?"

"Barrel…"

"Barrel – san! Is it true that the Urakawa Inn got attacked?"

"Yeah… We made it on time to save those two, though…"

"Damn. Even Mamoru got dragged into that…!"

"I've met our man, the other "allied" admin… He'll come introduce himself tomorrow."

"What's his name?"

"Funny thing. I didn't bother to ask. I was too upset."

"Ah. Of course, of course… He'll introduce himself anyway."

Netto and Saito had been looking at the TV news while sitting in the living room's sofa when Barrel contacted them: both gasped and looked nervous at the information while Barrel looked tired for once.

"Those two escaped?" Saito asked.

"Yeah. Some weird trick the bastard pulled up and left behind an Agatha Christie novel to laugh at us. He claimed being somewhere named Sittaford but that turned out to be the name of the novel so he was laughing at us saying he was Moriarty, you know, the Napoleon of crime and Holmes' most formidable adversary…" He sighed.

"So they're laughing at us again…" Netto fumed.

"And that's not all: they managed to claim back the Shagohod somehow while we were trying to contain a sudden appearance of SP Viruses flowing out of nowhere and which obviously was timed to keep us busy while those two did their criminal acts…" He grumbled next.

"Please don't go into details: we'll go visit them tomorrow morning if they allow us to. We need to cheer Mamoru – kun up or all the work we did back when the Plant Man incident will be in vain."

"I can see why: being readmitted to the same hospital after finally coming out could make him panic and believe he's going to spend the rest of his life there… I've seen such cases. You should really encourage him that it's just to be on the safe side and that he'll be home soon enough."

"That's what we intend to do." Netto confirmed.

"Good luck then. I'll see you in the Science Labs."

The call ended and both twins sighed as Saito turned off the TV and stood up: Netto glanced at him as he suddenly discharged his anger into a cushion by punching it with his right fist several times before stopping and clutching his arm as if he'd overworked it.

"Damn it. Innocent people kept on being dragged on this pointless conflict again. First it was Roll – chan and now this." He cursed.

"I know. But we mustn't fall victim of our own hatred."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't wanna end up like Darth Vader… I need some way to cool off: I'm going outside. Be back ASAP."

"Alright."

Saito came out and Netto stretched before heading upstairs and sitting on the outer edge of his bed: he spotted Saito standing beneath the balcony and on his fours: Netto glued to the windows and was able to spot that he was actually crying.

_Saito – niisan… He thinks it's his fault again… He thinks he's dragging everyone into this… But… What did Enzan say? Jasmine was like that too because she thought that because of her Colonel had gotten deleted: I need to make him see that it's not his fault… _

He spotted Saito using his right sleeve to rub his eyes and then sit on the ground while looking up: Netto also looked up at the almost mockingly starry skies.

_Mamoru, Obihiro… We'll make them pay for what they did to you. They'll never get away with it! Saito – niisan and I are going to bring them down and have them be punished by society!_


	25. Chapter 25: Allies

**Chapter 25: Allies**

08:48 AM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 23rd…

"… You'll get well, Mamoru. They're just checking that the damage wasn't bad… I know you'll be back at home in less than 8 hours."

"Ah…! What a relief!"

"See? I told you, Urakawa."

"Sorry for doubting you, Obihiro – kun."

"Don't mind it. So that's your real look, Rock Man?"

"Call me Saito. I don't wanna blow the cover."

"Alright."

Netto and Saito came to visit Obihiro and Urakawa next morning: they both were sitting in chairs next to the beds and already dressed back on their street clothes: Obihiro was calm while Urakawa had a weak smile on his face yet both of the twins were trying to encourage them.

"Now that we've gained a new ally we'll surely be able to focus more effort into locating those villains and bringing them down." Netto tried to animate them.

"That's good. Freeze Man and Grand told me he looked like a man who wouldn't let a villain get away with it." Obihiro admitted.

"Yo! Sorry for the wait."

"Ah! Tamako – neesan!"

"Tamako – san!"

"Yo! I remember cha: didn't ya participate in the N1 Grand Prix and in the Hawk Tournament?" Tamako grinned at Netto.

"Yeah. I did." Netto admitted.

"Mamoru told me 'bout cha. Thanks for helping him out. I'm his aunt, ya see. Alright! Guys! Let's metal!" She grinned.

"Let's metal!" Urakawa grinned.

"Let's metal." Obihiro seemed to find it catchy.

"See ya!"

Obihiro and Urakawa were led out by Tamako while the twins came out of the hospital and headed for the Metro Station: they picked a train headed for the Science Labs and remained silent during the trip: they climbed down and up the stairs into the street outside of the Science Labs: the day was rather grey and it looked like it could snow.

"They say there's a high chance of snow falling…" Saito broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah. I'd like to have a snow war."

"Snow war?"

"Oho. Ya didn't know, eh, Saito – niisan? We make balls of snow and throw them at the target: the one with most hits wins." Netto explained with a grin.

"Heh. Then beware of my targeting skills."

They both chuckled or giggled but stopped when they spotted Zataki Tosho AKA Vadous standing near the left side monuments and talking over the cell phone while distractedly playing with a ball pen on his left hand by having it spin around his fingers and repeatedly clicking the button atop it several times.

"… And for the last time! Stop your bullying!"

"It ain't bullying, _Shachou_, I'm trying to teach 'im how to use his secret weapon, ya see."

"Stop making up idiotic loopholes, Omega! Just because Blood Shadow is the youngest onboard that doesn't give you the right to pester him like you ALWAYS do. I'm going into a meeting and I don't want to look ill – humored so go try to figure out how they retrieved the Shagohod! Get it, huh? Move your blonde hair!"

"My platinum blond hair."

"Grfjtx! _Mille sabords_! I'm getting fed up with this. Just do something useful." He sentenced.

"I'll invent Flying Fanged Shoes Man."

"You moron! Stop fucking around: MOVE IT!"

He ended the call in an abrupt manner and pocketed the cell phone after seemingly turning it off.

"That moron! I can't believe he's got a mental age of 19 and acts like a kidding 15-year old guy! And pestering on Blood 'cause he's got a mental age of 13 and a body of 13 is bullying and abuse of authority. Someone has to slam the brakes on that moron." He grumbled aloud.

He fumed, pocketed the ball pen and headed for the building only to meet with the twins who'd stopped next to the entrance.

"Hikari Netto and Rock Man… Well. We meet." He shrugged.

"Eh… Is there a problem…?" Netto trailed off.

"Call me Vadous."

"Vadous – san… Is there a problem?" Saito asked.

"Omega! That freaking moron!"

"We're afraid that we haven't been introduced to him."

"Well! He's the guy who drew Black Doom away yesterday. When it comes to battling he's serious enough but outside of it he turns into a moron who doesn't know when to stop." He grumbled.

"Is t-that so?" Netto timidly asked.

"I'll explain later. They're waiting for us so show me the way to the command room if you may." He sighed.

"R-roger. This way, please."

"Hmmm…"

They lead the way into the Command Room where Barrel, Meijin, Yuuichirou and the members of the "Team of Colonel" had been assembled: they sat on chairs while Vadous stood next to Barrel and faced the audience with a serious look.

"Good morning. Starting today I wish to fight alongside you ladies and gentlemen to eradicate the menace the "T Syndicate" poses: although my civilian name is Zataki Tosho you can call me by my codename of "Vadous" as well." He announced.

"Excuse me for the delay… I was hunting down some information. So we finally meet… Cousin."

"Kanou Shade… Where did that title came out from?"

"A little irony I thought of…"

Kanou Shade came in carrying a clipboard with some papers attached to it and took off both sunglasses and hat as he stared at Vadous with a weak smile: Vadous returned it and lifted his right eyebrow.

"Background?" Kanou Shade asked.

"OS Admin plus some telecommunications…" He summed up.

"Economics."

"No wonder. Then "Doctor T" must be pretty technological."

"Surely."

"Ahem, ahem. I've traced the buying of all the material but since there were three or four stores involved it took me a while… And they paid in cash through intermediaries plus brought their vans to carry the stuff around… The locale was occupied that same night. In short: a damned good job at leaving no traces behind." Kanou Shade summarized.

"As expected. The bitch won't make it easy."

"What does "bitch" mean?" Netto asked Saito in whisper.

"Dunno either. I guess it's an adult word." Saito shrugged.

"Sure is. Never say it." Yuuichirou told them.

"Alright."

"Ahem, ahem. The only thing we can ascertain about "Doctor T" is that he surely is between 24 and 26 years old yet that doesn't help much. Too many techno experts out there too…"

"Maybe this can help. I once overheard that woman saying "I'd love to see V and YY pitted against each other and figure out who'd survive" so maybe that man's real name goes with the initials "YY"… They can't be that common, can them? Unless they're Yule Young or something like that but I insist: they can't be too common. That is: if records are left somewhere by now. They could be gone for all we know." Kanou Shade added.

"YY… Hmmm… He could be a foreigner too…"

"_You Yell_! Heh, heh, heh!" A voice rang out.

"Fuck. Omega! I told you to go hunt grunts!"

"Nope! Officially that message never came!"

"Stop playing loopholes: where the hell are you?"

"Above your imagination, _Shachou_."

"What the hell?"

Someone suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed atop the console which Barrel used to work with.

"Omega came!"

Omega turned out to be a Net Navi about a meter eighty tall.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes were blue and looked amused while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body.

He also red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

"Omega the platinum blonde cool guy came!"

"Who the hell told you to butt where you're not asked?"

"Come on! The public was eager to know me! Right?"

No – one replied and an uncomfortable silence built up on the room: Omega dropped his smile and looked nervous.

"W-well. Guess I gotta come back later with the 9:09 PM express from Devonshire… _Ciao_!"

He suddenly leapt across the air in a blur, ran past Saito in a blur and out of the room: Saito found a sticker with a lipstick mark attached to his right cheek and he ripped it off.

"What in the…? What was that?" He groaned.

"That guy's problem: he's too Occidental in humor!" Vadous grumbled aloud.

"I see." Kanou Shade calmly commented.

"I didn't find that funny." Saito admitted.

"Of course not: nobody did. I've tried reprogramming him to be like Blues or Search Man but the guy is so stubborn that he ends up coming with one loophole or another in the programming! Believe me: I've tried countless times." He sighed in defeat.

"Dunno why I got a _déjà vu _feeling…" Netto muttered.

"I rather get a weird vibe from that mister." Saito whispered.

"Huh? Why?"

"Dunno, really."

"Maybe you're over-imaging things!"

"Maybe I am."

"Ahem, ahem. Well. My 3 Navis will go hunting for any traces of their movements and can handle any Balrog or whatever they throw at us with ease. Incidentally… What did you find out about the hammer?" Vadous cleared his throat.

"Not much. It was made on Angband and designed for "Original" Forte to handle but apart from that… The temperature conditions there keep on increasing and it's going to become impossible to enter without some kind of protection at the current rate…" Yuuichirou reported.

"Yet the Shagohod must've been another tale if they went to such lengths to recover it…"

"Guess so. We spotted it parked outside of Angband and using some airport-like lanes to speed up and then slow down… They were shooting dummies and apparently calibrating it…" Dark Miyabi told them.

"So they're using Angband as a big red herring to distract our eyes yet there had to be some kind of base here from which Anaya and Izono could move out… Yet those "Admin" men knew nothing and their transmission equipment were remotely destroyed. Not a single one is left by today: even it was encoded Search Man could've deciphered them." Vadous muttered as he rubbed his chin.

"There is nothing Search Man cannot analyze." Laika confirmed.

"I knew that, thank you. Well then… If you find my other two Navis know that their names are Blood Shadow and Sigma. Serenade, the Reverse King, can recommend you to them." Vadous wrapped up.

"Wait. Let's exchange phone numbers for faster communications. Where can we find you?" Barrel asked.

"No need to find me: if needed then I'll come here."

"Deal."

Saito kept on frowning and looking at Netto and Yuuichirou to then look at Vadous and start again.

_Why does he give me these vibes…?_

"… Ora~h! Where's the bad guy! I heard they came!"

"Dingo? Who called you?"

"Huh? Eh… Wasn't that ya, Enzan?"

"It wasn't me."

"Huh? But you sent me an email saying "that guy came" and…"

"Blues. Do you remember that?"

"No, sir. I sent no such mail, sir."

Dingo had suddenly come into the room while brandishing his tomahawk and yelling: he began to speak with Enzan who frowned and Blues quickly cleared it up.

"The enemy now wants to start up mistrust between us… Hmpf. Too old of a trick to work…" Barrel was unimpressed.

"Damn it! I always get left behind!"

"Not my fault." Enzan shrugged.

"I knew that!"

"Then shaddup!"

CLONG!

"Ouwah! Nenji – san! Stop with the frying pan thing!"

"Behave in front of Ms. Princess, you kiddo!"

"Oh please! Don't treat me like a princess. I'm just a civilian after all, Rokushakudama – san!"

"Huh! Eh… Is that so…?"

"That of the frying pan reminds me of a parody show I saw a couple of years ago over the TV when I was bored." Vadous admitted without beating an eyebrow.

"Sure does…" Kanou Shade formed a smile.

"Now go broom!"

"Broom? Hah! I'm a proud guy! I'm gonna cut up wood for the fire-place: how's that?" Dingo grinned.

"Dingo. You moron. Fire-places work on gas nowadays. And you can't just go and cut up wood because you feel like it: you need a permit to begin with, see." Tomahawk Man scolded.

"No way!" His jaw hit the floor.

"Ya~h! De masu! I came to challenge the enemy to a mop and broom battle, de masu~!"

"Not Higure – san too." Netto groaned.

Higure ran in while having the _yukata_ on and brandishing both mop and broom: Vadous looked puzzled while Kanou Shade smiled.

"I'm afraid you've been fooled, Mr. Higure."

"Wha! De masu!"

"See? I told you the return address didn't match, Yamitarou. And why would they tell us of all people?" Number Man pointed out.

"Got a point… De masu…" He sighed and hung his head down.

"Another one? How many more are they gonna come?" Vadous began to sound exasperated.

"Who knows?" Kanou Shade shrugged.

"Meiji~n! I'm Ookuda's vengeful spiri~t!"

"Don't say nonsense whoever you are. Last time I checked Ookuda was pretty much alive." Meijin grumbled.

"No~! You lead him to suicide and Hell…"

"Omega. I know that tune. Stop meddling around."

"Ops. Then I'll go sell Winged and Fanged Evil Saint Repellent Shoes at 75% discount in the harbor… Heh, heh, heh!"

"What the heck?" Dingo looked baffled.

"I don't think that exists." Nenji grumbled.

"Of course it doesn't: it's another invention."

"My, my…" Kanou Shade looked amused.

"Hmpf." Dark Miyabi didn't find it funny.

"This is turning ridiculous." Laika cursed.

"Yeah! I wanna tell those culprits a thing or two!" Jasmine fumed.

"Let's not rush in recklessly, Jasmine." Meddy warned.

"Hi there! I got told to have Ground Man ground the enemy! Where are they at?" Dotarou asked with a grin.

"I told ya, Dotarou! The mail address is a fake!"

"Yeah. Go back." Enzan told him.

"No way!" He gasped.

"Damned bastard. Laughing at us… A coward. The guy's gotta be a coward who doesn't dare to show their hide around and…"

"Watch out!"

Saito suddenly leapt into the air and intercepted a micro-robot which was carrying some kind of hypodermic syringe: everyone gasped and Saito quickly removed the power cell to immobilize it.

"Damn it. Assassination in front of everyone now… They're getting desperate and that's bad sign." Vadous growled.

"But at least they won't be able to destroy this one."

"Let's start analyzing it ASAP and bring that thing to a clinic: I'd stake anything that it's poison." Yuuichirou commanded.

Netto formed a grimace and Saito looked angered.

_Damn you! Doctor T! You won't get away with it! Our word!_


	26. Chapter 26: Three Musketeers

**Chapter 26: Three Musketeers**

12:27 PM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 23rd…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Uncle Sigma says you're doomed."

"Yikes!"

"And Blood Shadow says you can't run."

"Yikes!"

"So? What were ya doing?"

"N-nothing."

"Wanna have to face "S"…?"

"N-no! I'll speak!"

Two Net Navis had cornered a black and suspicious – looking Reverse Internet Navi somewhere in the said area.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Sigma catches them all."

Sigma was about two meters tall and was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it was missing the armor over it.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand.

"And Blood Shadow drives them against the wall. That's my style so now go ahead and confess."

Blood Shadow, on the other hand, looked about the same height as Rock Man: his main color of choice was red.

He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head.

His ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"I w-was looking f-for a guy named Kanou Shade…!"

"Hmpf. Bounty hunter?"

"So what!"

"So what? We don't like them. "S" doesn't like them. Get outta here before his trusted guardians come cleanse the place. And by that I mean Mist Man, Rank 2."

"Rank 2? Kya~h!"

The Navi ran off like he was gonna be slaughtered alive and both "Copy" Forte and Shirakami walked over to them.

"Yo! So you're Sigma and Blood Shadow. I'm "Copy" Forte or Forte Jr. if you prefer." He introduced himself with a grin.

"Shirakami."

"Say! Cha are fond of puns, eh? Mind if we compare notes?"

"Delighted.

"Oh come on." Blood Shadow groaned.

"Welcome to the Skeptical Club." Shirakami told him with sarcasm.

"I get the irony." He admitted.

"Yo! Dance Man came!" Sigma joked.

"Tango Man came."

"Shaddup." The other two snapped at them.

"Hello there~! So! Brad Shad! That's your new boyfriend?"

"Oh please! Sir Omega! That's silly, sir!"

"Come on."

Omega dropped down from above while having brought the right hand to his chin and looking amused as he glanced at Shirakami and Blood Shadow who looked annoyed.

"OMEGA!" Vadous yelled at him over the radio.

"_Shachou_! And there I thought you'd gone to Wall Street."

"I'm not a stock exchange broker. The only time I was on Wall Street was to visit Federal Hall. Now stop bullying Blood Shadow: I designed him so that he doesn't have "it" and you don't either!"

"I didn't but I added it up myself."

"Nonsense. I'd spotted that on the scan I did five days ago."

"But that was three days ago, see~!"

"Che. Screwing imbecile…" He grumbled.

"And this guy is supposed to have an adult's mental age?"

"I know it doesn't look like it: I should've kept him serious like Search Man or Blues but then I thought he should be "dynamic" like Rock Man. My mistake!" He admitted.

"Well. At least he doesn't use strong words like I do."

"Say… Shouldn't you be attending the store?"

"Yeah. But we'll take a few minutes' time to get up-to-date with the latest reports in the boards and then head over there."

"Good. We're trying to see if we find anyone with the initials "YY" because they could be that villain's civilian name and "Doctor T" must be some kind of alias he made up as a red herring…"

"Sure thing… Good luck."

"Thanks."

"While ya wrap up tonight's date I'm off to making some grunts dance _tango_ around Tomahawk Man's totem-sama~!"

Omega laughed and jumped down while both Blood Shadow and Shirakami were unimpressed but "Copy" Forte and Sigma chuckled at the joke yet they shut up when facing the skeptical glares of the other duo (even though Blood Shadow's eyes couldn't be seen his face already transmitted that message) and an uncomfortable silence built up on the area.

"So?" Vadous asked to no – one in particular.

"G-guess I'll get back to work." Sigma timidly muttered.

"Resuming mission." Blood Shadow merely replied.

"G-going back to the store…"

"I'm heading back too."

"Good enough."

"Copy" Forte and Shirakami plugged out while Blood Shadow headed on ahead followed by Sigma: something suddenly landed and exploded inches from Blood Shadow's legs but he remained cool and aimed his shotgun around trying to locate the attacker: he eventually spotted a purple grunt armed with a bazooka.

"There you are."

He suddenly warped and appeared behind the grunt to hit the bazooka off his hands with the built-in shotgun and then aim it at his head: the grunt giggled and suddenly turned invisible: Blood Shadow suddenly discharged his shotgun and the grunt was sent flying to land some meters ahead: Blood Shadow warped and loomed over him while aiming the shotgun at him again: he looked dull and bored.

"Speak."

"Commander Black Doom ordered!" He uttered.

"Black Doom. So you come from Angband?" He guessed.

"W-watch towers." The grunt confessed.

"What's it like on the insides?" Blood Shadow demanded.

"Hell!"

"Hell itself? Guessed as much." He wasn't surprised.

"Lemme go!"

"Sure. But they'll delete you for failing." He shrugged.

"No way!"

"Hmpf."

"Guwra~h!"

"So you showed up, Black Doom."

"And you're Blood Shadow. Hah. What can a kid do?"

"Look at Rock Man."

"Che."

Black Doom suddenly showed up and deleted the grunt: Blood Shadow expected it and calmly replied to his taunting attempts by bringing up a point he knew the guy wouldn't be able to counter: Black Doom grumbled and fell into the trap.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Did ya think there was just one? Come at full power! I'll smash ya!" Sigma laughed as he loomed behind him and his figure became imposing.

"Damn. I didn't see that guy coming."

"Funny. I thought ya could see pretty well in blackened spots 'cause you're named _Black_ Doom to begin with!" Sigma grinned.

"You bastard!"

"So! What are you aiming to do inside of the furnace Angband is? The world's very first nuclear fusion reactor?"

"How idiotic. What would we gain from that?"

"Selling operating rights to the best buyer and starting an energy creation business…" Blood Shadow suggested.

"Well… I hadn't thought of that." He admitted.

"Or maybe you want to use that heat to test alloys and make them stronger? Isn't that how you made the Shagohod?"

"Maybe." He taunted.

"So you now wanna play Mr. Clever."

"What?" He grumbled.

"The wiser thing you can do now is go back."

"Hah. I never run from a fight!"

"Serenade disagrees on that." Blood Shadow picked.

"Serenade's another tale!" He grumbled.

"And so we are. Right, Sigma?"

"Oh yeah! I'll pound ya! Demon Sword!"

"What!"

Sigma suddenly hit Black Doom with his gigantic sword and Blood Shadow joined the fray by placing the shotgun's barrels on his chest and shooting thus opening a big wound there and sending him over the edge and down into the depths.

"Let's not give chase. That was enough of a lesson for now. I think the villain will regret not studying our capabilities." Blood Shadow calmly suggested.

"Heh, heh, heh. And who knows? Maybe he'll run into Sir Omega down there and wish he hadn't come outta his foxhole…"

12:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… O~w… Damn it. What power! Grah. That happens to me 'cause I got cocky… Doctor T is going to be very annoyed at me: I just know it. I should try to go back."

"You're not going back until you reply a few questions. Imposter."

"Damn it. Zero!"

Black Doom was somehow managing to walk down a badly lit road in the depths of the Reverse Internet when Zero caught up with him: he tried to get into fighting pose but collapsed and Zero aimed his sword at him while Black Doom managed to place his in a defensive pose.

"_How_ did you get into contact with the man?"

"Huh? That? Eh… He sent his Navi to meet me. Or, rather, his Navi avatar, like Kanou Shade's…" He admitted.

"Ah. So he has a Navi avatar like Kanou Shade. Makes sense: this must be how the bastard approached the "Witch – Queen of Angmar"… But it wasn't strong enough so he recruited you to replace it."

"Y-yeah."

"Your pawn is at Angband?"

"Phoenix Slayer? Obviously. Training to defeat you guys." He got cocky and taunted him.

"I don't think he'll last long against one of those two and even less against Omega. You know: the one you ran away from."

"Che. Clever bothersome jerk!"

A thunderbolt suddenly fell down from nowhere and split the road in two: Zero had to shield his eyes from the sudden outburst of light and when it cleared Black Doom was gone.

"Doctor T. He's dug up the avatar and used some kind of program to retrieve the lapdog…"

"Hmpf!" The voice of "Doctor T" taunted out of nowhere.

"Doctor T or whatever your name is. You're not going to show your hide ever? Or are you trying to make us think you're powerless when in truth you're trying to build an armor of some sort?"

"Hmpf! Dunno. Go read the incoming Volume 21 of _Pocket Monsters Special_ since it's so popular."

"Hmpf. No need to. I've read the magazine releases."

"But soon my ultimate weapon will be completed!"

"An armor better than "Original" Forte's one, you mean."

"Play around, Lestrade!" He taunted.

"Oh yeah? Then you're Moriarty." Zero was not impressed.

"Wasn't that obvious? Go play _Biohazard 4_ for the Nintendo Game Cube and learn some Spanish mottoes." The man chuckled.

"But don't think the heat will work as deterrent to stop us from exploring Angband for much longer… We'll find a way."

"Obviously." He sounded like he was shrugging.

"You've gotta have a beard like Professor Bacterio."

"Beard? Me? Nah. I'm not that old-fashioned." He didn't fall for the taunting attempt.

"Trying to taunt this man is pointless, Virus." Anaya's voice came in with her usual icy tone.

"My lady."

"Anaya Maria. You bitch. You should've stayed wherever Zataki Tosho locked you up at." Zero growled.

"Why would you care? You're a freak, after all. You were asking for Rock Man to delete you back then."

"I know. But Hikari – hakase found a solution to that."

"Divine intervention, eh?" She mocked.

"Whatever. Go tackle the "Battle Tube" and check if you've got luck. You know where it is: in the "Battle Frontier" of _Pocket Monsters Emerald_ which you access after clearing the Pokémon League." Zero taunted back while shrugging.

"Don't you feel ashamed at playing a little brats' game?"

"It's more than that: it's got a lot of math behind it and it's turned more complex and deeper." He shot back.

"Oh yes. Playing devils' advocate, I see."

"And you're playing the _Godmother_ instead of the _Godfather_ in Al Pacino's spot?" He tried taunting next.

"Of course."

"Well then. Black Doom got back to Angband so there's no need to stall for time anymore. Farewell, Virus."

"Tee, heh, heh, heh."

The voices died down but Zero didn't fall for the trap and shrugged his shoulders to head back and down the road: he soon found Omega who was leaning his back against a column and keeping his eyes closed plus having his arms folded.

"Damned bitch." He grumbled.

"So you get serious when it comes to that."

"Obviously. I don't find it laughable at all. A tyrant who ruined tens… No, _over a hundred_ persons' lives…! They'd deserve the gallows. But since that'd be too sweet of an end it's better to have them rot and be chased by the vengeful spirits of their victims." He fumed and imitated a spat.

"Fair enough. Next time the bastard's yours."

"Deal. I'll place him through slow and exquisite agony to force them to confess what they're building in Angband."

"Yeah. Trying to ask the location of the HQ or the name of his master is pointless because they'll be denying it. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know the name but he can't feign not knowing the location of the HQ…" Zero deduced aloud.

"I know. See you around."

Omega leapt into the column and used it as a base to propel himself upwards while Zero used a "Warp Point" to warp to near the entrance of the Science Labs' HP: he found Blues there.

"Blues. I've found out that our villain has an avatar Navi like Kanou Shade's… Hence how he could interact with the Cyber World before recruiting that lapdog…" He summed up.

"I hadn't thought of that point. We were discussing the reports of Shadow Man from Angband. Mr. Zataki's Navi got the ID data of one sentry and Shadow Man could disguise as him to get into the watch-towers and take some measurements: it'd seem the watchers have their quarters built in the same towers and they never go inside yet even outside it's around 25 Celsius hot… The heat from the main shaft is over 100 Celsius! So I guess some spots could reach 200 Celsius." Blues explained.

"Damn it. 200 Celsius. We really gotta work on some kind of protection if we want to get inside and not die in the attempt. Even we Navis have a limit to how much heat we can withstand until our reaction speeds get slowed down and we get automatically retrieved. I'm sure even Hinoken's Navis didn't go past 50 Celsius." Zero cursed.

"Yeah… Will feel like ice compared to that inferno… Freeze Man has already said it's out of the question for him to go there. Even in the summer the temperature never went past 30 Celsius but if faced with over six times that temperature his body will not bear it so…"

"Fine. We gotta think of a way to assault Angband and try to capture Black Doom or his memory data to locate "Doctor T"… Then we can bring them down in one fellow swoop." Zero suggested.

_I'm fed up with my imposter. I'll destroy them. This time it's personal!_


	27. Chapter 27: Visitors

**Chapter 27: Visitors**

14:41 PM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 23rd…

"… I gotta be imaging things. I've felt like someone was clumsily trying to follow me around… Or not?"

"Hmmm… Try the radar."

"Alright, _Shachou_. Oho. We've got visitors… 3m SSE…"

"Yet the signal isn't very strong… Maybe it's a Virus."

"Could be but the energy level feels different…"

Omega had been patrolling around a spot of the Reverse Internet when he began to look over his right shoulder and speak with Vadous over the radio from time to time: he turned on a holographic screen with radar on it and grinned.

"Super Fast Cool Vanishing Warping Trick!"

He suddenly speed up running forward, leapt into the air and vanished: a short-heighted figure timidly came out from behind a column and began to look around while seemingly trembling in fear: something suddenly seized the spy from behind and lifted them: Omega reappeared out of nowhere while having a scary face on.

"Boo."

"YIKES! PUKU!"

"Bubble Man?"

The "spy" turned out to be Bubble Man who was covering his face and trembling in terror: Omega frowned.

"Why would "Doctor T" bother to rebuild an idiot like you, anyway? Or did he have a caprice?" He wondered aloud.

"Huh? Puku! You again! Puku! The red mean jerk! Puku! The boss of the tall black jerk! Puku! I'll pay back the humiliation you made me suffer! Puku! My word! Puku!" He gasped and glanced at Omega.

"Huh? What are you talking about? We've just met."

"Liar! Puku! Where's Rock Man! Puku!"

"Rock Man? Well. I dunno. Ask Mr. Locations."

"Not funny! Puku! I wanna pay back the humiliation! After three years of hiding we finally get ready to get on the move again, puku! But when I tried to put a Killer Eye on the big black jerk he caught me! Puku! And then ya came and threatened me! Puku!"

"Three years? Is your head wrong or what? You were deleted around August, 2004. That makes up one year four months."

"Huh? I've never been deleted! Puku! I and Shade Man – sama were the only "Darkloids" who didn't submit to Laser Man's take-over! Puku! Take that! Puku!"

"Laser Man's take-over? Laser Man never took over you guys. Why would he if you're in the same league? Shade Man and he were both just pawns of Dr. Regal. And you're a Net Navi, not a "Darkloid". Your head is a mess, it'd seem." Omega frowned.

"What, puku! No way! Regal approached Shade Man – sama and struck a deal: he'd provide the means for us "Darkloids" to invade the real world and we developed the "Dark Chips" together! Puku!"

"I'm starting to get a headache." Omega grumbled.

"Puku! And when Shade Man – sama got angered and flew over to try to remove you guys from the way… Puku! That gigantic purple bubble appeared and we were sucked in only to be expelled into the depths of this area! Puku!"

"Gigantic purple bubble…? I'm getting lost."

"Hmmm… You. Bubble Man. What year do you think it is?"

"What? Ain't it obvious, puku! We're in Friday July the 11th, 2008! Puku!"

"July the 11th, Friday, 2008? Oi, oi! This is December the 23rd, 2005 and 100% of the calendars out there agree with me." Omega told him.

"Wha~t? Puku! This is impossible, puku! How can one moment be July the 11th 2008 and the next December the 23rd 2005? We've time-travelled? Puku! No, wrong! Puku! You'd know about Laser Man's take-over! Puku!"

"I'll insist, Bubble Man. You're making me feel dizzy."

"Wait, Omega. I think I know what's going on."

"You do, _Shachou_?"

"I think this guy came from… _a parallel world_." Vadous concluded.

"HUH? Parallel world, ya say? I thought it was a hypothesis!"

"Looks like it ain't anymore. It's the only thing which makes sense: the events he describes and the chronology…"

"PUKU! Then the gigantic purple bubble leaded us to a parallel world where you guys exist too? Puku! I now wish we'd ended up in a world where you guys don't exist! Puku!"

"Say. What does "Darkloid" mean to _you_?" Vadous asked.

"Hah! Puku! We "Darkloids" are living beings of data! Puku! The true inhabitants of the Cyber World! Puku! We formed alone sans human intervention! Puku! That's why we're gonna purge the Cyber World of you humans' puppets and claim it for our own as it should've always been so get ready! Puku! Heh, heh, heh!"

"Oh. We're so scared, really. What can just you and Shade Man even if he's got further power do against all those tens of strong Net Navis out there starting with me?" Omega smiled.

"Eh… Well… Puku… That's… Hum…" He trailed off.

"See? Impossible, I'd rather say, Mr. Anderson." Omega formed an even wider grin.

"HUH? Puku? Who's Anderson, puku?"

"Welcome to the Matrix." He joked.

"I've gotten lost, de puku."

"Don't worry. I can sniff your master's cologne coming closer. But it sure ain't Hugo Boss." Omega smiled as he looked around.

He suddenly whipped Bubble Man around and threw him towards the air: he collided with something, someone gasped and there was the CRASH sound made by something hitting the floor: Omega crouched and reached for the white metallic hexagonal prism set on his right hip: the upper half came out and extended into a sword's hilt having a pyramidal base: an energy blade colored green emerald formed in the shape of a tall and narrow triangle which Omega aimed at Shade Man who was rising from the ground and shaking Bubble Man off him.

"Parallel Shade Man: welcome to the Matrix."

"Brat! You dare to get in my way?" He hissed.

"I do. Come, Dracula. Let's see if you're as persistent as your local version or not." Omega challenged.

"Crush Noise!"

"Slow."

Omega moved past Shade Man in a blur while cutting the air with his sword and leaving a fresh cut on Shade Man's body below the chest: he winced and turned around only to find Omega dropping down from above aiming at his head with the saber: he'd even placed his feet on the lower edges of the base to put more weight, thrust, speed and mass into it and Shade Man was only able to avoid it by breaking down into bats and flying away: he reformed and ripped one column from the ground to throw it at Omega who'd turned off his saber to avoid it hitting the floor and getting stuck there but Omega threw his body forward across the ground thus successfully dodging the column and suddenly stabbing Shade Man's right leg below the knee as the vampire appeared behind him: Shade Man made a grimace and stepped back.

"Damn it. This brat's not a joke."

"Did you think I was? I think you didn't try to make a sufficient research on the parallel me." He drily replied.

"Damn it all. Tactical withdrawal! We shall be back!"

Shade Man grabbed Bubble Man's backpack and they suddenly flew "skywards" to become out of sight so Omega turned off the sword and stored it in a calm manner.

"Let's keep this to ourselves. If anyone finds them they'll only see the wrath of him and they'll think he's been resurrected to go into a rampage… And Bubble Man will try to play cool guy so they'll think he got resurrected as a test subject." Vadous calmly suggested.

"Roger, _Shachou_."

Omega leapt up some ramps and levels and ended up meeting face-to-face with Phoenix Slayer who was accompanied by a "new-breed" Balrog and looked amused.

"So you're Omega. _Senpai_ said you're strong. We'll soon see if you're worth of being his adversary or not… Go, Balrog!"

"Gruo~h…"

"Cheap, cheap and totally cheap."

Omega leapt into the air and drew what looked like a P-90 sub-machine gun but with a more pistol-like frame: he spun it around his right palm and then slid a small switch backwards: the flames surrounding the "Balrog" began to accumulate into an spheroid inches away from the muzzle of the gun: Phoenix Slayer looked on in disbelief and the flames suddenly turned blue to indicate that they were growing hotter than they were before and eventually yielded to white while their mass shifted: Omega slid the switch forward and the white energy hit the torso of the "Balrog" melting his armor and revealing a miniature sphere of orange-like flames: Phoenix Slayer's jaw hit the floor but didn't have time to react as Omega suddenly drew a "Tank Cannon" Battle Chip and shot the sphere of flames: the flames leapt out across the body of the "Balrog" and he roared as he was slowly and painfully deleted: Omega landed in front of Phoenix Slayer with a grin: the whole thing hadn't lasted even a hundred seconds.

"W-w-w-what was THAT?" He uttered.

"Ever heard of plasma, rookie?"

"PLASMA? THAT WAS PLASMA? YOU JUST TURNED FIRE INTO PLASMA JUST LIKE THAT?" He yelled.

"Yessir. My gun has a very strong magnetic field which allowed me to cage the energy and then change its temperature, structure and such thus turning it into plasma which I then released. The ballistic energy of the Tank Cannon made the fires of the "Balrog" become hotter than his body armor and thus he fell for the "if you play with fire you get burnt" classical proverb." He calmly commented with a shrug of the shoulders.

Phoenix Slayer was already stepping back and a hardly muffled gasp of horror could be heard close by.

"Yo! Doctor Terror! Ya didn't see that one coming, eh?"

"B-by all the…"

"It's so obvious! T stands for Terror! _Senritsu_!"

"Grah! Damn it! I lost! Alright! I'm Doctor Terror and I lead the Terror Syndicate! Away with the suspense!" He growled.

"Heh, heh, heh. That tune says it all."

"Hmpf… Doctor Terror… How lame!" Vadous taunted.

"Oh yeah? Says the man! You didn't realize why Her Grace granted you the name "Vadous" until this past March! You nitwit!" "Doctor Terror" taunted him.

"Hmpf! So what? It sounds better than my dull name."

"Hah. You've become obsessed with it. Why else would you go to the ends of creating yourself a Darth Vader – like armor with a simplistic life-support system then?" He laughed.

"Cosplay!"

"Not cosplay: that's too like brats. No… You're a diehard fan of the black armor-clad man! Admit your weakness… _Brother_!"

"What the fuck? That's some irony you came up with?"

"Hmpf! I saw an interesting parallelism between us three. The _Les Enfants Terribles_ Project… You are Solid. I am Liquid. Kanou Shade is Solidus! Master Izono is Big Boss. And Her Grace is The Boss. If you don't know what I mean look up the _Metal Gear Solid _games!"

"Oh, I've seen those. True. The whole thing does look like it. But it ain't like Maria got inspired from there 'cause when we were recruited into the whole business six years ago, _Metal Gear Solid_ for the PSX had just come out but we didn't know about Solidus yet or The Boss although we did know about Big Boss…" Omega realized.

"Good, Terror, good! I like that parallelism. The Boss. Yes! It's a fitting title for me."

"Indeed. Big Boss got that title because he overcame his mentor, The Boss, yet it was a very bitter thing for him." "Doctor Terror" chuckled.

"But I believe he was named Naked Snake in that time… So! Marco: you're Naked Snake." Anaya laughed.

"As you desire." He merely acknowledged.

"Pfff. That servant-master talk bores me so much… There's no point in lingering around here anymore: I'll let you go because it's better to have you like this than trying to destroy your lil bro or destroying anything on sight. In fact Doctor Terror is making us a favor: you'd become an eyesore to him as well so he sought to recycle you." Omega shrugged.

"Che."

"I'm coming back, _Shachou_. I need some Solitaire Spider to vent off my boredom. See you, rookie. Beware of the Missing Number glitch if you don't wanna corrupt your cartridge." Omega turned away and walked elsewhere while making a dismissing gesture with his right hand without bothering to look back.

"Huh? The Missing Number glitch? What's that?" He frowned.

"Look it up, Mr. Anderson."

15:11 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well, well, well… Let devil bite me if it isn't Tomahawk Man."

"Huh? Who are ya?"

"Uncle Omega."

"I don't have any uncles."

"Teasing ya~…"

"Whaddya want?"

"Tell Dingo over there that Doctor Terror will handle the operation to cure his appendicitis."

"Dingo doesn't have appendicitis, dude."

"Welcome to the Matrix, Mr. Anderson."

"Very funny."

Omega happened to run into Tomahawk Man in the Sky Area close to the doorway of the Reverse Internet under vigilance from ONBA Navis which seemingly were informed about him because they didn't intercept him or question him: Omega began to joke and Tomahawk Man folded his arms while looking skeptical.

"You're in Shirakami – chan's club?"

"Yeah. I am. And don't call the guy like that: he's a dude from the head to the toes." He grumbled.

"Nice motto."

"Come on. That's common sense speaking, dude."

"Oi! Tomahawk Man! My ears are ringing! Ya are talking about me? I'm gonna get promoted?" Dingo's eager face popped out.

"More like degraded." Tomahawk Man shot back.

"E~H?" He yelled in horror.

"Come on. It was sarcasm."

"Ah! You sounded so serious and…!"

"But I wasn't that far off the track either: I guess this guy would give us a run for the bucks." Tomahawk Man admitted.

"NO WAY!"

"Yeah! Because I'm gonna replace ya!"

"Guts, guts."

"Let devil bite me if those aren't Ooyama and Guts Man."

"Yo! Someone called Akihara City's Number 1 Net Battler?"

"Guts, guts!"

"Niichan is a liar! Chu!"

"Yikes! Chisao! Where'd ya come from?"

"Niichan is silly! Chu! Chisao has been here for four days already and niichan acts like I wasn't here! Chu!"

Dekao showed his smiling face as Guts Man made it to the area but suddenly Chisao's voice rang out with obvious annoyance.

"He's got a point. Didn't he stage that whole "kidnapping" thing to try to disqualify Hikari and you back in the Densan City Tournament? He can be very smart from time to time!" Omega grinned.

"W-well… That's…"

"Niichan is mean! Chu! The red Navi is right! Chu!"

"What! You'll trust a foreigner over me?"

"He said the truth! Chu! And Netto told me about him! Chu!"

"Huh? When did ya meet Netto?"

"I went out to Higureya and there he was! Chu! Niichan is always dreaming of silly things and eating! Chu!"

"What have I done to deserve this?" Dekao groaned.

"Dunno." Tomahawk Man shrugged.

"Niichan is mean! Chu! Niichan is mean! Chu!"

"Oh come on!"

"Heh, heh, heh. This is turning intriguing." Omega chuckled.

"So! What's so special about cha?" Dingo asked.

"I just beat a "new-breed" Balrog in less than 100 seconds."

Dingo's jaw hit the floor, Tomahawk Man merely lifted the right eyebrow, Guts Man didn't catch any of it and Dekao turned white.

"Let's say that Tank Cannons and cores of fire don't make up a nice mix plus their protective armor is not good against raw plasma."

"Raw plasma? What's that? A Rare Chip?" Dekao asked.

"Guess so…" Dingo ventured.

"You morons. Plasma is the fourth state of matter! The Sun is made of plasma! It is matter at brutally high temperatures and it still can't be recreated or controlled!" Tomahawk Man corrected.

"WHAT?"

"So this guy beats even Rock Man when it comes to that. We can start keeping out of the way and handling the lesser fry."

"NO WAY!"

"Too bad. The Admiral came." Omega giggled.

"Yeah. So shut up and do what he says if you wanna make it through this alive. And watch out with that tomahawk too, Dingo."

"Man."

Dekao, Dingo and Guts Man sighed while Tomahawk Man shrugged and Omega merely formed a smile…


	28. Chapter 28: Back from the Beyond

**Chapter 28: Back from the Beyond**

18: 18 PM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 23rd…

"… Alright. I'm going to use these guys as tools to distract and split the ONBA mice while we hit the Science Labs hard. Angband is at around 80% of its expected totally power: the furnace is taking longer than I thought in building given how the alloys need to be improved and the magnetic fields properly calibrated and synchronized… Well. I shall not bore Your Grace with such mundane technical details… I hope to have it ready in about 18 hours…"

"Fair enough, Terror. You know, it has a funny ring to it. Little do those fools imagine that we improvised it up! Tee, heh, heh! You were very convincing in portraying defeat."

"That is because I replied to their expectations and anticipated their behavior… I'm worried about Omega's capabilities but not even that guy is invincible. I'll find a way around them."

"Good, good."

"Thank you for the recognition, Your Grace. Is there anything thou desire which I can provide?"

"Nah. I can handle that through Marco. Your strategies are good and solid: it's obvious that you won't stray from my lessons not even by a millimeter so…"

"Acknowledged."

"Well then. I'm off to my quarters. Keep on, naughty boy."

"R-roger."

"Tee, heh, heh. Found a weak spot, eh? Tee, heh, heh."

Anaya walked out of the command room while "Doctor Terror" sounded slightly surprised.

"Her Grace has some strange moods from time to time, truly. Well then: let us get back to work… Heh, heh, heh…"

18:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Dingo~… What do you hope to find in this corner of Sky Area?"

"The Sky Treasure!"

"What "Sky Treasure"? Who told you that?"

"Totem – sama!"

"Somehow I doubt it."

"Indeed. Because that was me."

"Huh? Who goes there?"

"Fight, Sioux!"

"Wha~t?"

Tomahawk Man had come to a dead end of Sky Area when a voice rang out with obvious taunting intention: he growled and looked around only to see a gigantic almost-invisible snake looming over him.

"Fight!"

"You gotta be kidding me… Totem – sama! Meteors!"

Some meteors rained down around the thing and one or two hit it but bounced off its skin: the snake suddenly shot forward but Tomahawk Man was already jumping into air.

"Tomahawk Rolling!"

He impacted against the base of the head and the snake roared as it shot towards the Reverse Internet entrance while knocking both guards away with a whip of the tail: Tomahawk Man ran after it out of impulse and spotted it stopping in front of the Greiga and Falzer statues: it coiled around itself and then leapt at Tomahawk Man.

"Tomahawk Air Raid!"

His flying tomahawk cut the head off and the snake thing fell down into the ground before being deleted: mocking applause rang out.

"Bravo, Sioux."

"Doctor Terror: we know it's ya."

"Hmpf. Go, my pawns!"

"What?"

"Heat 'em up!"

"Set 'em on fire!"

"Bathe 'em on flames!"

"Burn 'em all!"

Heat Man, Fire Man, Flame Man and Burner Man suddenly showed up of nowhere in particular and surrounded Tomahawk Man: he cursed and was seemingly trying to think of a way out.

"Damn it! Plug – Out doesn't work!" Dingo cursed.

"Welcome to your grave, Sioux!" "Doctor Terror" laughed.

"You're quite the bully, aren't you, Doctor Terror? Ocean Seed!"

The oval-shaped capsule hit the ground and turned it into water panels thus inflicting damage to the four Net Navis: someone leapt down from atop the Falzer statue, picked Tomahawk Man, and ran away from the scene until they were back in Sky Area: the savior happened to be Omega who had a broad grin on his face.

"Yo! Tommy. Ya alright?"

"I don't like nicknames." Tomahawk Man growled.

"Guess you are."

A series of explosions followed by yells or roars of agony rang out along with several Plug – Out sounds.

"Heh, heh, heh. I mined the road."

"Where did those freaks come from?"

"Angband! Doctor Terror is now playing Necromancer and reviving defeated Net Navis. Well, in Heat Man's and Burner Man's cases, he stole them and reprogrammed them, though…"

"Che. The snake thing was bait, then?"

"Yeah. Sure thing, Mr. Anderson."

"Stop with the nicknames. I'll say "thanks" for today. But don't start picking on me next: pick someone of your size." Tomahawk Man began to get annoyed.

"Sure. I'm off before your tribe declares war on me, anyway. Go figure and hope you can smash down the Rockefeller Center. Heh, heh, heh. See ya round the gateway!"

Omega ran out and Tomahawk Man fumed as he headed for the nearby message board and began to read it up.

"Hum. Posted by PS 34 minutes ago… "If you thought summer in Tokyo was hot you'll be glad to know that it's cool compared to winter in Angband's depths. Go codfish." … Ain't it obvious who posted this? That Phoenix Slayer guy… Anyway. Dingo. Next time… Don't fall for those "treasure" rumors." He grumbled.

"Alright, alright…"

"Super Cannon, guts!"

"A~h! It collapsed again!"

Tomahawk Man looked southwards to see Guts Man knocked out on the ground with the remains of something which looked like the "Giga Cannon Program Advance" next to him: he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Guts Man still believing he can invent a new weapon… He and Dekao are so silly, really." Tomahawk Man grumbled.

"Che! Damn it! Hell! Just you wait, Netto! I'll become the world's Navi Master! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

Tomahawk Man cursed under his breath while Dekao laughed on…

18:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh. I'll zap you."

"Hmpf. A pawn of Doctor Terror…"

"Oi. You bully. Eat this! Boomerang!"

"Guwra~h!"

"What, I wouldn't let a bully pick on _senpai_."

"Good."

"Damn you! Elec Man – sama won't lose!"

Freeze Man had happened to find Elec Man roaming around the Yoka Yoka Area but Grand came to help him: he attacked Elec Man with the Boomerang Battle Chip from behind and knocked him into the ground while Freeze Man formed a smile: Elec Man stood up and formed a scowl on his face.

"Obihiro – sama: please analyze the enemy's composition. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a bomb on him."

"You're right. He _has_ a bomb on him." Obihiro confirmed.

"To impede capture…?" Urakawa asked.

"Obviously. Doctor Terror won't show his hand so easily."

"What are ya chatting 'bout? Lightning Blast!"

Elec Man lifted his arms and began to build up a sphere of blue electricity in there which he then unleashed around the area yet Freeze Man was shielded by the Dream Aura plus Holy Panel combo while Grand had placed a lightning rod in front of him.

"Too bad. Bamboo Sword!" Grand announced as he drew in and left a cut across Elec Man's torso.

"Grah! Damn you! Elec Sword!"

"Gotcha."

"What! T-that's…! Uagh!"

"You should see what a fella named Shadow Man taught me about traps and tricks." Grand laughed.

"_Kawarimi_! Damn them all!"

Elec Man fell for the _Kawarimi_ trick when trying to strike Grand: Freeze Man merely folded his arms and looked on.

"Mag Missile!"

"Hmmm?"

The magnet was destroyed by the Dream Aura just as Magnet Man dropped there.

"I managed to escape arrest and been offered new power… But to prove my loyalty I'll delete you, Freeze Man!" He laughed.

"Hmpf… Mountain Spear!"

"N-S Tackle!"

"Corn Shot 3, Slot In!"

Freeze Man smiled and shot the Corn Shot at Magnet Man intercepting his attack and delivering double damage: he then drew a Wide Blade and hit him again: Magnet Man recoiled and grumbled.

"Mag Ball!"

"Element Trap."

"Crap!"

The Element Trap was triggered and Magnet Man suffered the effects of its activation: he began to pant and looked tired while Grand knocked Elec Man into the ground.

"Elec Storm!"

Both jumped out of the road and into another as Cloud Man hovered towards them while spreading his arms wide.

"I've been revived from the depths of Hell to defeat you guys!"

"Isn't that what he said back in March?" Grand wondered.

"Guess so." Obihiro shrugged.

"Out of the way, Cloud Man! These guys are mine!"

"On the contrary: you've failed the examination. Experience the agony in the depths of Hell!"

"Guwra~h!"

Streams of light jumped off from the chest of Elec Man and he then blew up in a large white sphere of energy: Cloud Man then moved towards Grand and Freeze Man while grinning.

"Many Cloud! Elec Storm!"

He formed several clouds as camouflage and began to shoot out electrical spheres: he hit an Ojiouzan statuette and got punished only to then be attacked by Grand using Risky Honey 3: he growled and Magnet Man suddenly tackled him asides.

"Out of the way! These guys are MY preys!"

"Mine, you fool! Don't dare to question Doctor Terror!"

"I dare so go back to the depths of Hell!"

"You fool. That "power" was a lie… Doctor Terror placed a bomb on you lowlife too! Die!" Cloud Man roared.

"Nugra~h! Damn you double-crossing bastards!"

"No interlopers left… Now I can go out full power! Elec Storm!"

"Rolling Log 3, Slot In!" Obihiro told Grand.

"Uack! Damn you!"

"I guess the depths of Hell are waiting for ya."

"Silence! I'm in charge!"

"On charge of what?" "Doctor Terror" suddenly questioned with obvious suspicions.

"Uo~h! Doctor Terror! Of the situation, sir!"

"It doesn't look like it to me. While I authorized the deletion of Elec Man I didn't authorize the deletion of Magnet Man."

"He was being rebellious!"

"You should've waited for my orders."

"I apologize!"

"Last chance. Beat one of those two."

"Roger, sir! Elec Storm! The end, Freeze Man!"

"Hmpf…"

The electrical spheres did hit Freeze Man but he suddenly "shattered" to reveal that a wall of ice had been placed in front of him and had been projecting the image of Freeze Man who really wasn't there: Cloud Man gasped and looked around.

"Program Advance! Corn Party 1, Corn Party 2, Corn Party 3! Slot In! Corn Party! The end!"

"Muwra~h! I failed!"

The high-power Program Advance finished Cloud Man off and Freeze Man landed back on the ground while Grand clapped and bowed.

"Impressive, _Senpai_! I didn't see it coming!"

"Thanks, my disciple. So, Doctor Terror… Thinking things twice?"

"Who knows?" He shot back.

"Hmpf. I know that motto: you regret underestimating us. And if you have more of those in store then let them come. We don't care: we'll beat them over and over again."

"Get cocky while you can…!"

18:52 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And then I picked my cutlass, swung around with it and beat that bloody Missing Number!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now, see… The customers are coming so let's tend to them and you can keep acting the idiot later."

"My, my. Touched a spot?"

"Whatever."

"The ever?"

"Hmpf. Next."

"Here, purple niichan!"

"… 5700 Z…"

"Roger!"

"Roger the Roger."

"Huh? What?"

"Don't mind them."

"Copy" Forte and Shirakami had been running their store when the first began joking only to be met with the skepticism of the other: a 4th grader walked up to the counter with four Battle Chips which he laid in the table and "Copy" Forte joked at him but Shirakami kept his face calm and shrugged his shoulders.

"A-alright. Here's the payment…"

"Good. Have a nice afternoon and be a good kid. Santa's agents are watching ya~!" "Copy" Forte grinned.

The 4th grader nervously nodded and came out so a 5th grader walked up to the counter next.

"Here. I'll be having these. Oi… I've heard a rumor. Can you tell me if it's true or not? It says there's a truck which has Mew inside of it…"

"False. Mew can't be caught in-game either in _Green, Red, Blue _and _Pikachu_ and even less in _Fire Red_ and _Leaf Green_. It's a persistent rumor which just won't die out." Shirakami replied.

"Thought as much… And that of the rocket…?"

"False too."

"Hah. I knew it sounded too extravagant and complicated to be true. The Missing Number thing?"

"True but don't try it: you can easily corrupt your cartridge forever."

"Yikes! Alright, alright. Here's the payment and see ya."

"Oh, Shira – chan! Ya scared the customer!"

"I was warning them. Next."

A 6th grader walked up to them and suddenly grinned as he looked around the store as if to check there wasn't anyone else: he didn't have any Chips and Shirakami frowned.

"Hey. Where's the real stuff? You know, all those drinks which make you feel so powerful and…" He asked in a hushed conspiracy tone.

"Wrong place and you're underage. Get out. Now."

"Come on! I won't tell anybody." He insisted.

"I insist: we only sell Battle Chips. Get out or I'll ring your mom: I know how to figure out people's phone numbers 'cause I'm good at computers so get out." Shirakami growled.

The 6th grader gulped and Shirakami directed a deadly glare at him that set him on running away like he was going to be slaughtered alive: "Copy" Forte lifted his eyebrows and chuckled while Shirakami grumbled and didn't find it amusing at all.

"They see too many Occidental movies. They're a bad influence on them, really!" He settled.

"Copy" Forte giggled while he fumed…


	29. Chapter 29: Sneaking plot

**Chapter 29: Sneaking plot**

15:04 PM (Norway Time), Thursday December the 23rd…

"… And then the singing troop with the devastating troop comes and sweeps the ground with the coward troop standing on it!"

"Shut up, Heat Man. Your jokes are boring."

"Come on, Fire Man! They're unbeatable!"

"Who decides that, lighter wannabe?"

"I decide it, mammoth wannabe!"

"Shut up or our heads will roll across the ground."

Heat Man had been trying to pull some poorly improvised jokes on Fire Man who didn't find them amusing: Flame Man was starting to be fed up with it and a discussion between he and Heat Man began to escalate while Burner Man tried to stop them: the lot were sitting on the metallic ground of a catwalk suspended over a pit of magma inside of Angband which contained eight or nine "new-breed" Balrogs surrounded by a protective field: the four Navis had some cables connected to their bodies which hung down from a machine in the ceiling: the room only had one gateway which was guarded by two machine-gun turrets.

"Man. But I'm bored."

"Shut up and be glad we're being given some new power-up ability despite our failure hours ago." Burner Man growled.

"Yeah. We were napping and all but you started to bother us. Go nap so that we can nap too." Fire Man told him.

"Or else Phoenix Slayer will feed you to those guys down there: one imbecile less." Flame Man threatened.

"Man! You've got no thrill despite that both of you were Hinoken's Net Navis!" Heat Man grumbled.

"That's the past. Only the present matters by now." Fire Man countered.

"Homura was an imbecile anyway." Burner Man shrugged.

"Sure was. And Hinoken too for pitting fire against fire. Rock Man actually did something smart stopping us or we'd destroyed the whole Cyber World at that pace." Fire Man admitted.

"Heh! I was the only one with the guts to stand up to that "Bestialized" Rock Man and knock them outta it. How's that?"

"Hum! Not even Rock Man could defeat me the first time around: it took Forte to beat me! Say! Doesn't Phoenix Slayer look like the guy?" Flame Man boasted before asking.

"Of course he does: he's Forte but I heard Doctor Terror brainwashed him because he wanted to make use of his brutal power. And in case ya didn't know Forte and Wily were on a league back then." Burrner Man calmly confirmed.

"What! So my heroic stalling at the WWW Island was just to win time for Forte?" Flame Man gasped.

"Yeah. To unleash that "Proto" beastly thing…"

"Damn it all! Then my heroic stalling was not for Wily but for that cloaked fucking bastard?" Flame Man growled.

"Well. Wily ended up backstabbing the guy because the only reason he wanted him was to blow up that "Guardian Program" so…"

"And somehow that blue gnat managed to defeat both Forte and Proto's core… I still dunno how that blue gnat could be so strong." Fire Man grumbled.

"Dunno. I guess Doctor Terror knows since he sounds like he knows it all and such but he ain't gonna tell us grunts. It ain't like we need to know "how" he produces the power but, rather, "what" abilities the blue gnat has…" Burner Man calmly replied.

"Those mines… If they hadn't been set on our road then we'd defeated the tomahawk guy and gotten a prize! This feels dull and I don't feel any changes at all!" Heat Man got impatient.

"No wonder. Upgrading is at 88% and you aren't supposed to feel anything until you're at 100%. But at least we've proven to be better than the Elec Team: they got decimated." Burner Man warned.

"Yikes! I'll s-shut my trap."

"Fine. About damned time."

They failed to notice a figure looking down towards them from an alcove close to the ceiling: the figure grinned and jumped atop the machine in total silence: the intruder lifted a panel and began to type into a keyboard apparently programming something.

"Man. I now feel like napping. It's hot and nice. See ya." Burner Man let out a large yawn.

"Huh… Even I feel sleepy." Heat Man yawned too.

"Hmmm…" Fire Man muttered.

"Fua~h…"

The four of them were soon napping so the figure leapt into the air and crawled across a duct while grinning: they got out through another entrance and spotted a round elevator placed in the middle of a cross-road with eight tunnels spanning from it: the figure dropped down into the elevator without a sound as some Uruk – Hai carried some materials down it.

"Man. That furnace is 90% complete but look at how it's increased the heat by now. It's gotta be Hell on the Cyber World."

"Yeah. Luckily we have these magnetic fields to shield us."

"Sure thing… Alright. We're here. Let's go."

The elevator reached the bottom of the shaft and then came out into a tunnel slopping downwards until it reached a vast dome-shaped room with the start of the heat expelling shaft on its ceiling and an observation room set on the northern wall from which Black Doom was overseeing the construction of a large machine around thirty meters tall.

_I knew it… Nuclear fusion reactor! They call it "furnace" but that must be a misleading name… He wants to use its power to generate more powerful programs and start a war with them…!_

The figure quickly raced towards the base of the huge structure: it had two cone-shaped bases and one gigantic spheroid in the middle: the bases had several cylinders coming out of it labeled "DEUTERIUM" and "TRITIUM" which seemed to be the fuel.

_Obviously. Deuterium and tritium… The classical combination… But I know a little something. If the proportions of both are altered even by a 5% then it'll reach critical mass, lose control and implode… Let's give Doctor Terror some "terror"… Heh, heh, heh._

The figure slipped towards a corner and tapped the right side of the head where the ears would be at.

"Got it?" He merely asked.

"Yeah. I know. Go ahead." A familiar voice whispered.

"Roger…"

The figure quickly climbed up the structure and found a small service panel into which he typed something before closing it: they then jumped towards the overseeing room's roof and silently landed there: Black Doom didn't seem to notice anything and the figure quickly leapt up into the ventilation shaft.

"I'm coming out… I guess there's less than 12 hours before that machine starts up so… They'll be busy enough completing it and making test runs before slowly heating it up to max power which may take four or five days if the energy reserves and the system is like ours…"

"Keep your ears sharp to see if you can catch a hold of some other conversations around you as well. For the moment we know there's a Flame Team and there was a failed Elec Team… There must be from other alignments too… As for Water Team… I can only imagine Dive Man there because they wouldn't bother to rebuild Bubble Man or complicate things with a Freeze Man wannabe."

"Hmmm… The Wood Team… Nah. There can't be one. The only wooden Navi is Wood Man and he's on our side… Say. I didn't see Blast Man in the Flame Team."

"Maybe they think he's too rebellious and wouldn't do a proper job? Oh wait. They could Blizzard Man for the Water Team too."

"Sounds logical… Hmmm?"

The figure stopped close to one tunnel's entrance and spotted Blizzard Man looking downwards.

"Hyururu~! Phew! I'm glad to be far from that hot place. I'd melt in a flash down there, hyururu~…" He muttered.

"De a~ru… Cadet Blizzard Man, report to the command bridge, ready to torpedo the aircraft carrier, de a~ru…" Dive Man called out.

"Hyururu~! Roger, Capt'n!"

Blizzard Man dashed inwards and the shutter descended so the figure kept on leaping across the shaft and bouncing off the walls to escalate: the upper end of the shaft became visible as well as the energy shield blocking it plus the perimeter turrets: the figure grinned and opened another service panel into which they inputted a code to open up one eight of the shield and shut down its assigned turret: the figure leapt out and then snapped its fingers to restore the system.

"Alright. Mission successful… I'm gonna check on the watch-towers and try to spot the Shagohod to see what updates they've done to it as of late… Then I'm going back. It's past 23 PM in Japan, anyway."

"Roger. Be silent."

The figure quickly jumped around and landed atop one of the watch-towers to then look out and see the parked Shagohod: the figure grinned and stretched.

"Going back... I'm in time to tune Uncle Jeremy's Ultimate Crazy Show!"

"Come on… Stop making up nonsense."

23:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Brad Shad. You there~?"

"Omega. Do you expect Blood to be awake at such an hour? He and Sigma are in their capsules by now."

"Too bad. I wanted to show him the newest issue of "Guys' Secret Weapons Magazine" and such…"

"HUH? You've just made that up on the spot. You wanted to bully him, you moron. Go to your capsule and sleep already: tomorrow is the 24th and Doctor Terror isn't going to let go of us so easily."

"Sure, Prophet Man."

"Grjtx! Move it!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

Omega had been walking down a curved metallic corridor with arched ceiling and having some armored doors placed at both sides of it every a certain interval: fluorescent tubes set on the ceiling provided the illumination and calling out when Vadous came up from the other end with an annoyed look to him: he still wore the business attire and Omega began to joke around.

"I put to sleep the Flame Quartet, see~…"

"I don't see a problem with that because like that they wouldn't be able to detect your presence… Move it already."

"Sure Movement Man."

Omega dashed southwards while Vadous fumed and rummaged on his pants' right pocket: he frowned and suddenly took out a neatly folded piece of paper.

"Where'd this come from?" He wondered aloud.

He unfolded it and read it with a frown: he didn't seem to the get what was written on it.

"What the heck? "Sent 40 k of potatoes, 10 k of pineapples, 20 k of apples and 30 k of carrots to the usual spot… Estimated arrival time: two to four days. Freddie Mercury…" … Freddie Mercury? Now why does that name ring a bell?"

He took out his cell-phone and began to browse the Internet with it: he immediately formed a skeptical expression.

"What in the… THE Freddie Mercury of the "Queen" rock band…? But he died way back in 1991! And what's all this talk about fruits and vegetables being sent somewhere…? How could this have gotten into me? Ah! The Metro… It was pretty cramped when I returned from downtown where I'd run some businesses… Someone could've slipped it into me without me noticing… And the only person I can think who'd do that apart from a prankster is Doctor Terror… So he was there? Maybe it's a challenge to my intelligence… Wait a min…"

He frowned and seemed to recall something given how he began to type into the cell-phone again and then gasped.

"I knew it… By looking up books by Agatha Christie I can figure out where this came out from… _Murder in the Nile_… Some kind of code used between gun smugglers… But it doesn't mean anything in particular: that man was just taunting me and…"

His cell-phone suddenly rang to signal an incoming call: surprised, he picked it up.

"Hello, hello?"

"_Kyoudai_!"

"Doctor Terror!" He cursed.

"Indeed!"

"So you did sneak the paper on me. And you found out my new phone number somehow."

"Hah. My avatar is useful. I just had to look around for your civilian name and then I dug it out." He laughed.

"What do you want? I know already you're gonna keep on giving Hell to us for the 7 days left of this year 2005…"

"Her Grace has decided to allow for two days of truce. The 25th and the 31st… You should feel thankful!" He laughed again.

"She wants to play the civilized woman, huh? She's been reading too much Agatha Christie during this time." He fumed.

"Who knows?"

"You do, Terror. And don't think you can hide your civilian name for much longer… We've got a lead." Vadous told him.

"Her Grace guessed it already."

"She's Miss Marple then." He tried to taunt.

"Why not?"

"I've got no time for your politician-like speech." Vadous sentenced while trying to provoke him again.

"I've got no time for your businessman-like speech." "Doctor Terror" calmly replied without falling for it.

"Now you wanna play imitator? You gotta be a parrot."

"A parrot, eh? I always thought you were a sly fox."

"I heard the earlier talk: you think you're Liquid Snake."

"I don't think I'm Liquid Snake: I AM Liquid Snake!"

"Oh. Scary, scary." He dully replied.

"Hmpf… Play the serious man all you want: one day I'll have your head in a silver platter! My word! Have you forgotten the title Her Grace granted to us three? The "Demon Tribe"…!"

"That was 'cause that bitch was seeing too much _anime_ and reading fantasy _manga_… Go to Ystad and leave us alone."

"Then you go to Dublin."

"Why Dublin of all places? Or you chose it at random?"

"Like you picked Ystad at random too…"

"Hmpf… Whatever… It's a pointless discussion anyway. You wanna come up with another breed of "Balrog" now or do you wanna power up the destructive power of the revived Net Navis? Wait a min… No. That wouldn't fit with the bitch 'cause she wants ruling and not destruction: you'll use them to attack the military and such."

"Excellent deduction, Mr. Smith."

"You're trying to downgrade me, huh? I don't care."

"You don't care 'cause that guy ran out of pipe-weed." Omega suddenly loomed over Vadous' right shoulder.

"I thought I told you to go nap already."

"I heard an intriguing conversation."

"It doesn't involve you: it's personal so scram."

"Alright. I'll go read Brad's dreams."

"Ah no. I forbid you from messing with his capsule. And stop pestering around: I haven't been able to have proper rest today ever since I woke up at 8AM." He grumbled.

"So you're the early bird type, too, _kyoudai_."

"Stop calling me "_kyoudai_", we have no blood relation whatsoever. Unless you mean "brother" as in "brotherhood"..."

"That's what I meant from the very start…"

"Then that makes sense. What else do you have up those long sleeves of yours? New-gen "Dark Chips" too?"

"Why would I need those? My program of some days ago proved you don't need them anymore. It's like an airborne virus, you know, one without the need of contact or injection… Like FOXDIE… Look it up if you don't know what I mean. _Kyoudai_."

"FOXDIE? Fox-die… A fox-killer?"

"Heh, heh, heh. As I said: look it up on Wikipedia using your Samsumg cell-phone's functions…"

"I'm not surprised you know I use a Samsung if you're the guy who put that note in my pants this afternoon on the Metro." Vadous was unimpressed.

"Oho. He asked of you for a date, _Shachou_?"

"Are you imbecile or what? You've been watching too much _yaoi_ out there, Omega. That's FICTION! FICTION! Get it?"

"Fiction Man wants his lasers back with a vengeance."

"Go to your capsule already or I'm gonna do a disgrace."

Omega giggled and ran off while Vadous looked at his cell-phone again and made a scowl.

"I know you've been trying to trace me, _kyoudai_. Did you really think I called you without being prepared? Hah, hah… My encryption programs stolen from the NSA are beyond your capabilities. Why don't you accept your fate and simply fade away?" He laughed.

"I won't until you and Anaya are locked up in jail again: all those children who suffered because of you lowlifes demand it and so do their parents and family. You destroy humans. That's strong enough of a reason to lock you up FOREVER." Vadous turned icy and barely held back his desire to explode into rage.

"Hmpf… Boast while you can… You and Kanou Shade will soon be buried under two meters of rock, gravel and earth! _Kyoudaitachi_!" He laughed in an evil tone of voice.

The line went dead so Vadous pocketed the Samsung cell-phone before punching a wall out of anger.

"You lowlife… Stick out your neck… This is just the beginning!"

He formed a scowl and his eyes displayed pure rage…


	30. Chapter 30: Surgery

**Chapter 30: Surgery**

07:55 AM (Japan Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… Morning already… I can hear Tamako – san training on the boxing sack already… She can be loud. And Urakawa is dreaming of the breakfast given his face… Hard to believe a simple-minded guy like him is the Reverse Internet Admin… Well. I used to be like that before the plane accident and when I began to form "Gospel"…"

"Good morning, Obihiro – sama. Have thou slept well?"

"Yeah. Where's Grand?"

"He went to fetch the latest news at the Science Labs, sir."

"Alright."

Obihiro woke up on his Urakawa Inn room and stretched: he spotted Urakawa sleeping in the _futon_ next to him and looking like he was dreaming of food: Freeze Man greeted his master with a reverence as he projected using the hologram and Obihiro calmly spoke with him.

"Yo. Morning, Obihiro, _Senpai_. Got some news! That Doctor Terror guy actually rang up Mr. Zataki yesterday night to boast around. He didn't let out anything useful obviously enough and all attempts to locate him were on vain. It was a rather personal challenge which can be summarized just like that." Grand reported.

"No wonder."

"There's a rumor about some "Mr. Anderson" out there which can do incredible things… I dunno if it has any relation at all though. It could be a fake too." He admitted.

"Even if it wasn't we don't have time to spend watching magicians' performances."

"Oh! I forgot: how silly of me. Those guys are gonna give us a break tomorrow and on the 31st because the bad woman wants to play the Countess or something."

"Well. That's something."

"Hmmm… Curry rice… Curry rice… Hmmm…" Urakawa muttered as he began to drool.

"Jeez. I can't stand that face: I'm gonna have a shower, get dressed and go out for a walk. If I see that face anymore he'll pass his hunger virus into me." Obihiro muttered as he stood up.

"Roger."

Obihiro came out of the room after searching on his suitcase and entered the bathroom locking it from the inside: Urakawa began to stir and he stretched while letting out a big yawn: he rubbed his eyes and woke up to look around.

"… _Banzai_! Take this and this and that! Hah!"

"Hum… Tamako – neesan practicing… I'm surprised she doesn't catch a cold from being out there…" He yawned.

He quickly changed into his usual clothes and stretched while instinctively placing the right hand over his chest.

"… It's been over a year since I finally came out of the hospital and got healed… I can't avoid remembering that "dream" of that boy who looked like Netto – kun… Maybe I should talk with him about that… But I'm pretty sure that was an effect of Rock Man transferring his body energy into the system to restart it…" Urakawa muttered.

He then looked outside to see Tamako training along with Metal Man's hologram: he formed a smile.

_I should think of something to give to Obihiro – kun… Hmmm… Maybe a pendant would do nice? I'll write his name there and all. Yup. He'll appreciate it. We're getting along pretty nicely! And combining our skills we can do so much… He's a good friend!_

"OK! Time to ready the breakfast… Next time I'll overcome my record!"

Urakawa smiled and looked animated…

08:45 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Are they alive?"

"Yes, sir… Olga seems to have caught them, sir… I checked the genome information too but I didn't find out their identity, sir… NSA, CIA, FBI… They don't exist in any databases, sir… They turned out _No Such Agency_ and _No Such Agent_, sir…"

"Guess so… But I know this man."

"Huh?"

"Wake them up."

_Ugh… Huh… Where am I…? Whose voices are those…? Wait… I went out for a walk and then… Something attacked me…? My memory is totally blurry… Grah! What a strong light! My vision's blurry and those voices echo around me too…! My wrists and ankles are immobilized…! Metallic surface… Facing upwards…? _

"… Well then. Enough charades. Welcome to my base. Hikari Saito. I guess you remember my voice well enough by now, ain't that right?"

"Doctor Terror…?"

Saito slowly focused his sight as he felt how the thing he was attached to was moved upwards and was placed in a vertical position: a light like those operating rooms was hanging from the ceiling and provided some light yet the immediate surroundings were unlit: he could see a figure clad in a light green surgical gown.

"Did my playback of _MGS2: Sons of Liberty_ spook you?"

"So that's what those voices were?" He grumbled.

He then looked at his body and saw that he only had his white boxers on and no traces of the rest of his clothing.

"You're _shotacon_ too or what?" He cursed.

"No. Her Grace obviously is but I never got into that…"

He stepped forward and Saito saw that he'd dressed up as a surgeon plus having smoked glasses covering his eyes: his overall height surpassed a meter and eighty and he had brown shoes on yet that didn't tell anything in particular.

"How did you catch me?"

"Easy. I had Black Doom lie in wait."

"Damn it. How didn't we see that one coming?"

"Because it was a little fancy I thought of this night… _Kyoudai_ will be filled with murderous intent by now but I guess Kanou Shade will be there to cool him off… Heh, heh, heh." He chuckled.

"_Kyoudai_? Funny. Mr. Shade says "cousin"…"

"Oh. Does the man? Well. Since we were kind of a brotherhood I thought "kyoudai" would be a more fitting term. I cannot help but look up to Liquid Snake. His plan was flawless. Totally. Even those DIA fools didn't see it coming." He laughed.

"DIA? Don't you mean CIA?"

"No, no. DIA. Defense of Intelligence Agency… And by "Intelligence" I mean information… Likewise CIA stands for Central Intelligence Agency as well…" He shrugged.

"And there we thought you were of technological background."

"Your thoughts are correct. This gown is just a little caprice of mine but it comes in useful when it comes to hiding my identity."

"Are Anaya and Izono looking too?"

"Sadly no. They had some business overseas which they had to take care of ASAP so… I sent Black Doom back to Angband to put the finishing touches to the furnace. It should start test runs in about 90 minutes but bringing it to full power will take around 75 hours… _Kyoudai_ knows that already so I don't mind letting it for you to listen. Hikari Saito."

"Well. Mr. Shade did tell us Anaya had known ever since 7 years ago."

"Of course… A funny coincidence yet sometimes… Fate is marked by coincidences…" He sounded amused.

"So you want to interrogate me or torture me?"

"Not exactly."

"Boast in front of a hero reduced to powerlessness?" He deduced next.

"Correct. There is no greater vision. Besides. Omega would've put you out of your career sooner or later." He announced.

"I don't see him as the type to seek fame."

"He doesn't yet I'm talking about skill and power."

"I know he beat that "new-breed" Balrog."

"Indeed. I wasn't expecting him to have gone so far in controlling raw plasma… One little mistake. But that doesn't make him invincible either so I'm bidding my time." He shrugged.

He then pulled a cart forward and Saito gasped upon seeing different types of needles and what looked like surgical instruments on it: "Doctor Terror" put on a pair of light green plastic gloves which he took out of a sealed bag and then applied disinfecting alcohol to all of the tools as if getting ready for a real surgery.

"Don't fret. I don't intend to take your body apart. I'll just show you a rather forgotten technique to inflict pain: and this won't be your everyday pain… A pain which will start in one spot and slowly spread through you while eventually numbing your sensory capabilities… I got the idea from the James Bond movie _Tomorrow Never Dies_, aired in 1999… There was this man, Richard Stamper, expert in the art of Chakra torture and using some instruments similar to these… I know I'm going to ignore the always-in-dispute manuals which decide where the Chakra can be located at but it doesn't matter much… And yell all you want. No one can hear us."

"Stop! Don't come any closer…!" He began to plead.

"Fear… Feel the fear…!"

The man drew a needle with a stick and slowly injected it into his right shoulder: Saito made a grimace and closed his eyes while he seemed to feel in pain.

"That reminds me of a Holmes story… What was the name again? The name of a racing horse… Aha! _Silver Blaze_… The trainer was actually a villain who tried to sabotage the race by using a very delicate cataract knife to cut some thin muscles near one of the horse's hoofs and make it hurt so that it wouldn't be able to run properly yet they'd believe in a natural cause because there'd be no visible wounds…" He suddenly brought up.

"Y-you think you're cultured just because of that…! But you only apply it to evil aims… like destroying the world…!"

"My, my. When did I say I wanted to destroy the world?"

"Then why the heck did you make up that hammer thing?"

"A little test… I wanted to recreate Morgoroth's Underground Hammer, Grond… That's all there's to it, Hikari Saito."

"Grah! My right arm is turning numb…! Sensory overload…!"

"Indeed. Let's go for the next."

He picked another tool and inserted it into the left hip: Saito's leg twitched for a second and he had to hold back a yelp of pain again.

"Heh, heh, heh… Trying to play the strong yet the pain is beyond you'd felt before… Ah! Bad memory, I know. Phoenix Slayer did set on you fire and you felt a horrible burning sensation… But this is subtler. And this guilt and feeling of powerlessness will chase you everywhere… You thought you were strong because you beat all those opponents… That's true. Yet those WWW deserters were on the right track saying that you couldn't do anything when it came to the real world… You should've paid more attention to them half a year ago." "Doctor Terror" chuckled.

"Lemme go…! I'll destroy you!"

"You'd destroy a human?" He sounded amused.

"Grah! I mean… I'll defeat you!"

"Ah. You're guest to but you'll have to get past Phoenix Slayer and Black Doom before you can… And Black Doom is loyal to me even without the need of any programs… He'd rather erase the data and let himself be captured than give out my location… Speaking of location… I know your Copy Roid has a GPS chip installed a while ago but it was left behind in Akihara City so… No – one can know where you are. But once I'm done you'll be back there wishing this was just a nightmare…"

"Damn it! If you hadn't disabled my fighting abilities then I could've beaten you already, Terror!"

"You know… Doctor Terror is starting to sound boring. Call me Tarmine Shugire…" He suggested.

"Whatever! It's better to call you Morgoroth!"

"So you found out the meaning of it, eh? The name Fëanor granted to Melkor once he knew of the robbing of the _Silmarilions_… "Black Foe of the World" or, rather, "Black Enemy"… His original name was never used again save by his fellow Valar…" He sounded amused.

"Like I care!"

"Next spot… Here…"

He drove the needle into the torso below the right nipple and Saito tried to struggle with his left arm and right leg but got nowhere and had to give it up.

"Useless, useless. Those cuffs are made of a thick metal capable of resisting human strength… Your Copy Roid's strength limiters are on and locked with a password… I've taken many precautions."

"Damn you! You sadist!"

"Sadist is too vulgar of a word. No. I am an expert." He calmly replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"They'll find and defeat you!"

"There's this possibility, true. I'm not invincible either. That's makes me different from your stereotypical villain…"

"You just want to see dramas occurring everywhere?"

"It could be said so… Dramas are interesting because it is there that human nature becomes exposed behind those layers of hypocrisy, conducts, morals, manners, politics and such… It is in extreme conditions that humans try to survive when they act like the emotional living beings they are…" He sounded like a poet by now.

"You're crazy." Saito cursed.

"Isn't that a largely overused word? I always found it void of meaning: a failure from weak persons to recognize others with further intelligence and ability…" He muttered.

"Shit. Nothing impresses you?"

"Coming from you, who has barely seen anything of life? No. And not even _kyoudai_ or Kanou Shade can impress me… I know all about them. I always make my research beforehand. By now the numbness must be spreading so let's finish it… Here…"

He inserted it into the left shoulder and Saito hissed as he moved his right leg but he felt the needle there followed by his left torso and the central part of his torso.

"By now only your neck, head, and privates can move. Like they'd been immobilized… Doesn't this make the fear rise in you? Ending up like Urakawa even…" He taunted.

"Don't make fun of Mamoru – kun! He nearly died because of Plant Man's rampage timing with his operation! That Anetta girl was totally brainwashed by Wily: he admitted to it after Cyber City…! Attacking a hospital…! She had to be that heartless! Just to steal that damned "Tetra Code" that should've been placed elsewhere!" He cursed.

"Don't blame me. The bureaucrats thought nobody would think of looking in such remote and uninteresting places…"

He stored the needle in the box and then drew a small knife which he used to draw an Alphabet "T" letter on his right cheek at a small size before storing it too.

"There. A little reminder…" He chuckled.

"It's over so let go of me!"

"While it's over I want to contemplate my work a little bit: a good artist always takes his time to fix any mistakes." He dully told him without sounding surprised.

He simply picked a vulgar wooden chair and sat down there while placing his left leg over the right hip and leaning his lower jaw on his closed right fist: his right elbow was resting on the right leg: he appealed as being calm and collected while Saito was now looking away.

_I don't like people starting at me like this the whole time! Huh? I'm feeling something… Oh it couldn't be._

"Hmmm? Hum. I imagined as much. Seeing that of some days ago… But it doesn't matter anyway. That's just your true nature responding to the stimulus…"

"Shaddup you rookie pirate." Saito snapped.

"Rookie pirate? I don't see the point, frankly enough. Hmmm?"

A ringing sound rang out from somewhere in the blackness so the man took out a flashlight and headed over there: he eventually picked a cell-phone.

"Her Grace… What does Her Grace desire of Its servant?"

"I told ya to drop that old-fashioned speech…"

"Ah! Hum… Yes, Boss?"

"No big deal: we'll back in 5 hours."

"Roger. I'll have everything prepared."

"Try to hire a Bulgarian next time."

"Do excuse me?" He seemed to miss the point.

"Never mind! I was being ironic. See ya, naughty boy."

"R-roger, Boss."

"Tee, heh, heh."

He finished the phone call and shrugged his shoulders as he pocketed the cell – phone and then walked over to the chair where he sat back and resumed his earlier pose.

"… Hmmm… 09:20 AM already… Sufficient time."

He walked over to Saito and gripped his jaw from beneath while removing the smoked glasses thus revealing two eyes with emerald irises which displayed challenge at Saito.

"Remember these eyes, Hikari Saito. I challenge you to solve the enigma behind them. This is between you and me…"

Before Saito could reply he took out a taser and hit the right side of Saito's neck so his Copy Roid apparently shut down: he released him and his body hit the floor in a blunt manner.

"Well then. Let us clean up and then send them back… Heh. Revolver Ocelot's style was too blunt. Mine is a hundred times better. If Liquid could see me he'd congratulate me because my method wouldn't have killed the DARPA Chief… Yet Ocelot did it on purpose to conceal his true affiliations… Too bad Decoy Octopus screwed it up in not mentioning the implants thus when Snake met President Baker he was puzzled at the apparent fact of Psycho Mantis reading his mind… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… _Metal Gear Solid_ is interesting because it depicts the usual layers of deceit and treason when it comes to black ops…"

He seemed to grin and then brought forth a box with Saito's clothes: he dressed him back up and then took out a remote to form a purple vortex thing on the ground which swallowed him and then vanished so he chuckled.

_Try to live up to my challenge! Hikari Saito!_


	31. Chapter 31: Security

**Chapter 31: Security**

09:48 AM (Japan Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… This is Lezareno, currently checking Sector K – 4… Hmmm? Wait. I see something! T-this is…!"

"Do you need help, Chief?"

"Please come, Mr. Zataki. I think it's him."

"What! Coming ASAP…"

A man had been exploring a side-alley and communicating via a walkie-talkie when he spotted something deeper in the alley.

The man appealed as being on his forties: his blonde hair was neatly combed and his face was clean shaven.

He also wore sunglasses over his eyes.

He was dressed in a grey leather sports suit and a jacket plus pants made of the same material and sported black boots as well.

What he'd spotted was Saito who was laying face-down on the alley and was still knocked out: he rushed over to him and crouched next to him to check on him: he spotted the wound of the taser.

"Taser knock-out… And he reappears 2.3 kilometers from the point he vanished at… I smell the dirty hands of that Doctor Terror." He grumbled aloud.

"Chief! There you are… Yeah. It's him." Vadous called out as he rushed down the alley.

"Then let us bring him to the car and to his residence. Will you handle the debriefing?"

"Of course. You should go back to the HQ and make sure to check all Cyber World security: I sent Blood there because I expect that villain to try to play unpredictable by hitting us and hard."

"Understood."

The two men lifted Saito by passing his arms over their shoulders and walked towards a simple green Toyota car which was parked there: Vadous took out a black-colored PET with his initial as emblem and aimed it there.

"Plug In! Sigma, Transmission!"

"… Starting search, Boss… IR Scan… Negative! X-Ray Scan… Negative! Access logs: nothing odd… No electronic signals coming in or out. Mass sensors: no mass alteration… Door wires: all nominal. Alarm: all nominal too…" Sigma began to list.

"Check the gasoline volume too."

"Roger. Gasoline volume unchanged: filters haven't picked up anything strange and the chemical composition hasn't been altered. Engine cover: normal. No – one has tried to open it. Radio antenna: system lock engaged and no attempts to crack it have been registered…" Sigma kept on listing through the PET.

"It'd seem it's safe. I know we've only kept it here for about twelve minutes but you only need two to strap a bomb. But given how all these checks come out negative then it'd seem there's nothing to fear. Besides, that man wouldn't repeat the same trick twice: it'd get repetitive."

"It's always good to be paranoid in these cases and check even a millimeter's gain of mass." Lezareno calmly told him.

"Unlock the car: password J13…"

"Roger. Inputting password… Navi data integrity under check… Check positive… Password accepted. Unlocked."

The lights flashed to indicate the unlocking and Lezareno opened the rear right door: they sat Saito there and fastened the seat-belt before closing the door: Vadous climbed into the driver's seat while Lezareno picked the passenger's seat: Vadous inserted the key.

"Last check."

"Better to carry out a last check."

"… Contact circuitry nominal. Pulses travel back and forth without any change in the average total travelling time… Brake level and composition nominal! Wheel mechanisms alright… A/C system nominal… Last battery of tests completed… Safe to ignite…"

"Alright."

Vadous turned the key and the car quickly turned on: he got into the main street and then stopped at a cross-road.

"Activate the GPS and calculate quicker route…"

"Roger. Calculation under progress… Completed. Fastest route: 2.1 kilometers, 11 minutes. There are a lot of traffic lights and max allowed speed is 20 km/h so…" Sigma reported.

"That's fine. We're not in a rush either. Call Hikari Netto and tell him we're coming."

"Roger, Boss."

"That we're coming to see his secret weapon." An amused voice suddenly joined the conversation.

"Huh! Sir Omega, sir…! When did you, sir…?"

"Right now. I heard ya were out and I was impatient to compare notes with ya…" Omega chuckled.

"Omega. This is serious business so go hunt down info at the Reverse Square. And check the Nebula Hole Area in case they're using it as a base again." Vadous quickly ordered.

"Nebula Hole Area? Why. That place's Viruses are amusing. Alright: I'll bring you a patch of ground as a _souvenir_… Heh, heh, heh."

"Jeez. Just go there already."

"Roger, Roger Man."

"There's no point in that to begin with, right?" Lezareno asked.

"Yeah. Just baseless mottoes."

"I contacted Hikari, Boss… He's waiting for us."

"Good enough. We're at half-way mark …"

"I suppose it's something the enemy came up with recently given how we weren't prepared for it." Lezareno muttered.

"Obviously…"

They remained silent until the car stopped in front of the Hikari house: Netto had come out into the lawn wearing a raincoat over his usual clothes plus a scarf and cotton gloves: both men brought Saito out of the car and they laid him on the living room's sofa.

"Allow me to introduce you to Chief Lezaro. Security Department."

"Security Department…? Eh, sorry… Security Department I get but… But from _where_? I mean…"

"Ah. True, true. The "Committee"… An organization fighting forces who try to erase individuality… They've been around for 40 years." Vadous quickly summed up.

"Oh. I see. So you're fighting those guys too?"

"Indeed. It's somewhat personal for us. Anaya Maria used to be our sponsor yet she tried to stain our name. Thanks to Mr. Vadous though we were able to fool her and escape unscratched. Obviously that pawn wanted to have us pay for it hence the bomb-rigged car." Lezareno admitted with a shrug of the shoulders.

"So it wasn't caprice but vengeance?"

"Correct. Of course: the man in charge of that couldn't know that. And their failure forced them to show their hand."

"Uh-unh… Stop… This pain…! It's overloading my sensors…! My body is turning numb…! No…! I'm gonna become an invalid for life…! No! I'll defeat you! Tarmine Shugeri!" Saito began to convulse.

"Tarmine Shugeri? Guess it's another alias of the man which he let out today… Try to calm him down." Vadous muttered.

"Saito – niisan! Me! Netto! Wake up! You're home!"

"H-home…? Netto…? Ugh…"

He began to open his eyes and slowly articulated his feet and hands followed by his main body and the arms and legs: he seemed relieved to find that they were responding.

"What happened?"

"Who is that mister?"

"Chief Lezareno is his name… He's part of an organization fighting those jerks…" Netto summed up.

"Uh-unh… Grah. The jerk… I can't believe he was so calm and spoke like he was just chatting about the weather…!"

"Did you know where the location was at?"

"No. But I did catch some background noises which were totally natural and which that man surely didn't notice: given how I still am a Net Navi my hearing system can pick things human ears can't."

"What did he look like?"

"Wore a surgeon's light green gown, brown shoes and latex gloves plus smoked glasses… Meter and ninety, I'd say… At the last moment he took out the smoked glasses and showed his emerald eyes while issuing me a challenge… To try to decipher the message hidden in them… But I dunno what he meant. I guess he was laughing at me."

"Eh… Could you try to recall anything else?"

"Well. The guy talked about some "Liquid Snake" and mentioned a James Bond villain… I think he said the film he was featured into came out in 1997… Something about Chak torture…"

"Chakra?" Vadous suggested.

"Chakra: that's it. He used surgical needles in some spots of my body to overload my pain receptors and make my limbs and main body numb."

"I see. What about those background noises?"

"Hmmm… First it was the hum of a heating system. Then I heard a very brief device which sounded like it was using some kind of pressurized gas output… A very compressed and short-cycled signal which I believe was his cell-phone… He got a call from Anaya who was overseas and said they'd be back in about 5 hours… He also mentioned a Holmes story regarding some race horse and a trick to sabotage the race which would be very hard to spot…" He frowned.

"_Silver Blaze_?" Vadous suggested.

"_Silver Blaze_, yeah. That was the name. While I was still groggy he used a playback of some videogame… There were two men voices… One sounded like a subordinate and the other was commanding… They mentioned someone named "Olga"… Then the subordinate said they'd been researching about me but that I wasn't NSA, CIA or FBI… He ended up saying "No Such Agency" and "No Such Agent"… Yet the boss said that he knew about me and commanded for them to wake me up… That's when the man showed up." Saito described.

"_Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty_…" Lezareno deduced.

"Are you a fan?" Netto timidly asked.

"Hmm? No, not me. Yet I saw one of my agents using his free time in playing it and it picked me… I happened to see that scene so I still have it fresh… Coincidences in life I guess." He admitted.

"Where's Mama?"

"I think that in her room… Mama! Saito – niisan is back!"

"Oh thank goodness!"

Haruka rushed down the stairs: Lezareno took out his sunglasses and made a small reverence: his eyes' irises were blue.

"We apologize for the intrusion, ma'am. Lezareno. I and Mr. Vadous found your son, ma'am, and we were trying to piece together what had happened." He announced.

"So then… You'll be able to stop those bad people, right?"

"True, ma'am."

"Then I have no objections… How do you feel, Saito?"

"Fine enough."

"Alright. You didn't catch a cold or anything?"

"No. I'm still a Navi, Mama. I can't catch colds."

"Oh, true. I sometimes forget."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have been so blunt." Saito apologized.

"No, no. You did well in reminding me…"

"No, I didn't. You were starting to believe I was a human again… Sorry to destroy the illusion…" Saito sighed.

"Dear. You're very caring, I know. But it's no good to have fantasies. One must face reality as it is." Haruka smiled at him.

"Alright…" Saito made a weak smile.

"Is that all? Then we'll be going…" Lezareno made a courteous bow.

"Please wait! I remembered something else. A low-power electrical engine rotating a mechanism clock-wise and taking up some electricity given how one or two of the set of operating lights over my head flickered for about three seconds… I was feeling like there was a slightly decrease in power efficiency but it was compensated…" Saito gasped.

"Oho. That's intriguing. So it needs some kind of system to provide electricity… It may not be a house or a facility… It didn't sound like a ship, right?"

"No. The sound wasn't sound-proof either but the blackness made it hard to guess its size… I'd say twenty to thirty meters long and ten to fifteen wide plus four or five tall…" He admitted.

"Well. That's something." Vadous looked intrigued.

"So that means that the base or whatever it is needs an external power source and that to operate some systems it has to borrow electricity from other running systems?" Netto guessed.

"Hmmm… Could you determine if it was a heavy object?"

"Not really… The mechanism rotated smoothly and I then heard the hum of a generator somewhere… Oh yes. There was also the muffled sound of a Copy Roid's engine somewhere which wasn't mine. Maybe it was Black Doom's one being recharged or something like that." He remembered next.

"I see. And that man couldn't have thought of that because they were sounds which he couldn't pick up… By the way, that name you mentioned a few minutes ago…"

"Oh. That. It's gotta be a mockery of his. What kind of name is "Tarmine Shugeri" anyway? We know very well his real initials are "YY". Any success in finding them?" Saito asked.

"None insofar. We've borrowed search bots and installed them in several colleges' servers but of course we don't have the means to check every single college in the nation: we'd never end and surely he was careful enough to alter or delete the info… So instead we're looking for end-of- year class photos in which the names are physically written and are harder to edit because people get used to seeing those and would notice a change. That's one spot where he can't alter things so easily and besides there surely is a duplicate of his diplomas somewhere in the archives… You know how bureaucrats are: they always want to keep a copy of something." Vadous detailed.

"Wow. Good thinking." Netto whistled in surprise.

DING DONG!

"Oi, Netto! Open up! Today I beat ya!" Dekao yelled.

"Dekao… If you wanna impress me try to beat Tomahawk Man first and then I'll admit you've got the qualifications for it! Saito – niisan isn't in a condition to battle anyway."

"Beat Dingo, eh? Mwah, hah, hah! Piece of a cake! My new Program Advance strategy is flawless! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Yeah. And then you blame someone else when you fail. I know you too well, Dekao." Netto muttered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's defeated in less than 45 seconds."

"Well then… If you will excuse us we'll resume our investigation. Ma'am: would you allow us to post a car with two gentlemen in charge of making sure that no suspicious persons can come close?" Lezareno asked.

"Oh, no. Go ahead. I'll feel safer."

"We will try to be as unnoticeable as possible: we wouldn't desire to interfere with your routines, ma'am."

"Roger. Goodbye."

"Have a good morning."

Both adults came out and Saito sighed: he seemed to frown but then shrugged it off.

"I feel better… I should be doing something useful."

"No, I'll do it. You should take it easy, Saito – niisan."

"He's right, Saito. Take it easy."

"… Alright. I'll be reading something then."

Saito managed to walk forward at a slow rate and gripped the handrail to have a leaning point as he climbed up the stairs: Netto followed him just in case and Saito entered the bedroom: he sat on the chair and began to type into the PC so Netto smiled and closed the door behind him: Saito sighed and stretched.

"… Those eyes… Man. I don't know why but I can't shake them off. There was a challenge there but something else. Wait. Now I remember… Vadous – san… He looked like someone. I can't help but get that vibe from looking at him… But it's not always: it's given a certain angle…"

He spotted the email icon and checked it out.

"… Tomahawk Man… "Just that ya know Guts Man was here, challenged me with some weird crossover of a Dream Sword and Giga Cannon and ended up exploding, and he lost. Dekao goes on blaming Dingo and they got to the fists into which Dingo won too. The guy got a bruise on the right eye and also his little brother came to tell him he's a bully. In short: what you'd expect of the guy. See ya." … Heh. So Chisao – kun has seen the truth by now, eh?" He grinned.

He looked out through the balcony and saw Dekao running out of the Metro Line Station chased by Chisao who was yelling something at him: both got into the house and shut the door.

"You're a nice person, Dekao – kun, but your arrogance sometimes gets the best of you… One should be careful about that: just accept that you're not invincible and you've got your limitations like I do." Saito muttered with a smile.

He checked his inbox again and found an email from "Copy" Forte which he opened.

"Hum… Heh… "The 26th is fine for ya? Or today? CF"… I guess today afternoon will do fine. "Today afternoon. Like last time." … Heh, heh. That will help me shake off some tension." He grinned.

He then spotted an attached audio file which he opened.

"… And, in the meanwhile, Red Rackham… I am getting upset!"

"Heh, heh. There goes Captain Haddock and his recreation of his ancestor's battle with Red Rackham… He ended up winning and so but the manner in which he suddenly spins around like mad brandishing the cutlass is SO funny… Heh, heh, heh." He giggled next.

He then stretched and looked out into the streets.

_Tomorrow is Christmas' Day… It'll be a very special day! Nothing and no – one will be able to ruin it! My word! And I'll eventually overcome your challenge, villain! Netto – kun and I will beat ya!_


	32. Chapter 32: Master and Apprentice

**Chapter 32: Master and Apprentice**

02:12 AM (Norway Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… Doctor Terror, sir. The furnace is completed. We've begun some initial tests according to your instructions, sir, and insofar it's working as it should, sir."

"Excellent, Black Doom."

"Thank you, sir."

"Let's give it some hours before attempting full power. In the meanwhile carry out an inspection of the main tunnels."

"Roger."

"Yo! _Senpai_. The Flame Team wants to see the thing."

"Allow them to see the CCTV footage recorded from here."

"Roger, _Senpai_!"

Black Doom was overseeing the deepest room of Angband containing the "furnace", or, rather, the nuclear fusion reactor, and speaking with "Doctor Terror" over the radio: Phoenix Slayer came up from behind and smiled at him: Black Doom merely shrugged his shoulders and the guy headed back.

"Heh, heh, heh. Once this babe is running up then we'll be able to create further energy and new weapons. Omega won't be the only Navi in the world capable of using plasma weaponry for much longer. And we've not forgotten the Z and R front but it's stuck. So let's have some fun over there by relocating the normal Balrogs and having them blow up some stuff… Heh, heh, heh. And then Choina will come in and pick some stuff for their profit together with North Korea… Military are so predictable… Heh, heh, heh." He chuckled.

"Indeed." "Doctor Terror" chuckled as well.

Black Doom kept on chuckling under his breath and folding his arms in an overconfident pose…

07:35 AM (Burma Time)…

"… Careful. My disciple. We're close to the origin of this huge signature which I'm sure it's another of those demoniac beasts."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Then let's go have a bloody festival, master! I'm eager to kill something."

"My pleasure… Let's go!"

"Killer Death Beam!"

"Shadow Blade!"

"Gruwo~h…"

"The thing's awakened. Let's fight to the end, Shadow Man!"

"Do them in, Killer Man."

Shadow Man and Killer Man dropped into a large room in the Cyber World which contained a Balrog, awakened by their attacks: the monster grumbled and drew a large sword with fire surrounding its blade: both Navis avoided the swing of its blade and Shadow Man leapt into the air to try to land atop the monster but it saw him coming and punched him with the left fist which was surrounded in flames: Shadow Man got the hit and was sent flying but then the left eye got hit by Killer Man's "Hell's Sickle" and the monster grumbled as it tried to hit Killer Man with the sword but he dodged.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Festival! Bloody festival! You moron!"

"Eat this! Shadow Blade!"

Shadow Man landed atop the head and began to attack it several times before the monster suddenly jumped towards the ceiling to try to crush Shadow Man who had to jump off: he calmly formed his "Shadow Clones" and they attacked in unison: the monster roared and began to stomp on the ground thus making cracks containing magma appear: the heat leapt into the air and the monster began to make it coil in the shape of a cyclone around the blade.

"Ops, ops." Killer Man grinned.

"Hmpf… So it's going to get challenging at last."

The "Balrog" swept the sword across the air and a large cyclone of raw flames formed around its body: the walls began to melt due to the magma jumping into it and various alarms went off: yells in a foreign idiom rang out as well.

"Emergency! Emergency! Balrog Number 3 is destroying its containment room: attack it with the knock-out rounds!" Someone yelled.

"Whose nation was this one again?" Shadow Man asked.

"R – Nation."

"Then let's "Run" them over!" Killer Man laughed.

"Hmpf. Whatever." Dark Kirisaki muttered.

"Oi! Intruders! Dispose of them!"

Four or five Navis rushed towards them but Shadow Man simply threw a _shuriken_ at each one's chest thus logging them out: the Balrog finally broke free and into a larger round room with a freight elevator leading upwards set on its center: another four tall cubic prism containers were placed nearby and locked.

"Let's try not to wake up the rest of them or it'll go beyond our control and their control." Dark Miyabi warned.

"Roger, My Master."

"Keep on, Killer Man."

"Nyah, hah, hah! Festival! Bloody festival! Hell's Sickle!"

"Hah!"

Both attacks were blocked by the sword of the "Balrog" which got suddenly stuck into the ground thus opening more cracks and forming the lava cyclone which destroyed the energy field surrounding the elevator and the "Balrog" then drew a full circle around the room.

"Uh-oh." Killer Man muttered.

"Not good."

"Gruoh, wroh, wroh, wroh!"

"I guess that freak's laughing at us." Killer Man grumbled.

"Lovely."

The cyclones melted part of the other containers and more of them began to form as the other four "Balrogs" broke free and crossed their swords as if to signal their mutual pact.

"It got out of control. Well. As long as they destroy military facilities then it doesn't matter. It'll help weaken the iron hand of the regime. Let's go back, Shadow Man. We've done enough." Dark Miyabi commanded.

"Alright, Master…" Dark Kirisaki shrugged his shoulders.

"Emergency! All "Balrog" units have escaped containment! Impede their escape from the lower levels: seal the area off and disconnect it immediately!" A voice commanded over a speaker.

"Well! Can't say it wasn't thrilling." Killer Man grinned.

"Don't be disappointed, my disciple. We'll get several chances of killing more of these in the days to come. Let's head back."

Both Navis came out of the area as the "Balrogs" jumped upwards into another hub from which eight tunnels spread each one having a banner above their entrances: several Navis came out and began to shoot some mine-like objects which attached to the Balrogs and produced a sudden electricity discharge yet they shook them off and hit the ground with their swords: the raw magma deleted most of the Navis and the "Balrogs" simply kept on climbing until they reached a series of parabolic antennae which aimed for the "sky" so they headed over them: the lead one used the left hand to input a code and the machines began to hum.

"Grouwrgh!" The lead one exclaimed.

They then jumped into energy beams heading for the sky and vanished…

10:28 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sorry, Barrel. We failed to take one of them out and the five of them escaped using the antennae system. I guess they're going to free the ones in the Z – Nation next because their orders don't force them to pit against each other… We'll need some help if they come here but I rather guess they'll be heading for Angband first…"

"We underestimated their intelligence."

"I see. Well. No use crying over spilled milk."

Dark Miyabi and Dark Kirisaki came to speak with Barrel who wasn't surprised in the least about the news: he looked calm and indifferent at them to begin with.

"The problem will be containing them if they try to wreck anything on their path to Angband if they don't know the direct route."

"Hum. True. We'll have to gather quite a force unless Omega can really take them out like he did with the "new-breed" one the other day. Today's gonna be another of those long days…"

"Do excuse me, gentlemen, if I interrupt you, yet… Is something the matter today?"

"Kanou Shade… Good. Listen up."

Kanou Shade came in and looked slightly surprised: he carried a folder with some documents and photos inside of it which he left atop a chair as he took out his hat and pocketed his sunglasses.

"The R – Nation's "Balrog" units are on the loose and surely headed to retrieve the other 5 in the Z – Nation. Afterwards we hope they'll know a direct route to Angband. If not then we gotta make one for them: can you contact Vadous and tell him that?"

"Delighted. Immediately."

"Good. We should start making a list of potential Navis to tackle those walking behemoths too."

"Hello? Cousin? Me… Listen up: the "Balrog" units in the R – Nation are going to rescue their brethren and then head back home yet we don't know if they're smart enough to find a straight route. If they can't then could you open one for them? We don't want them razing everything on their road, do we?" Kanou Shade told Vadous.

"Of course not, Kanou… If they want a road back they'll have it: I'm sending Blood to check it out. By the way: try to figure out if there's any combination of names similar to "Tirmane Shugeri"… Long tale short: the bastard got Hikari Saito and tortured him by overloading his pain receptors and numbing his body… The bastard let out that name but we're no closer to knowing his looks 'cause he dressed as a surgeon yet we know his eyes irises are green emerald… Meter and ninety… His base is some kind of facility equipped with various automated systems yet I believe it isn't a building connected to a main city electricity supply line. Make sure to watch your back." Vadous detailed.

"I see. I've had no luck hunting the initials but I found some descriptions which could match our man… This new info could be useful yet he could've found it out by looking into Google…"

"Do what you can: I'm also running investigations by asking a favor out of Mr. Denpa, the Committee's number 2."

"Ah. Alright. Count on me, Cousin."

"Good. And beware of the guy: he's starting to think he's Liquid Snake in person. We should hope he doesn't his hands in a warhead." Vadous grumbled.

"We should really hope so indeed."

"Well then I'm off to checking those monsters' movements. Keep me informed if something else were to happen."

"Good. Later."

"Later."

"Later the Batter!" Omega yelled in background.

"By all the… When did you get back?"

"About 2 minutes 11 seconds ago?"

"Got anything useful?"

"I met Bubble Man there."

"Bubble Man? He had to be scouting for that man. In case you didn't know Terror now thought that reviving Shade Man and filling his head with some stuff of a sci-fi film plus letting him loose will make us believe he came from another world or something like that. He gave him Bubble Man because if there's one useful thing he does is scouting because no – one takes him seriously enough." Vadous didn't sound impressed.

"I see. So we should be skeptical." Shadow Man guessed.

"Hah! Skeptical and whatever. As long as there's a bloody festival then I don't care who the opponent is!" Killer Man laughed.

"Later."

"Batter a Smasher!"

"Shaddup."

The line went dead and Kanou Shade pocketed the cell-phone: Barrel rubbed his chin.

"There should be a way of impeding them of using Nebula Hole Area as a base… It's too close to us for comfort… They could strike very quickly and retreat quickly too… And I don't want to have to go through the "Liberation" stuff again like they forced us to do in August." Barrel muttered with a hint of annoyance.

"Should we go try to see if the programs in charge of opening the doors can be convinced not to open them to those guys?" Dark Miyabi suggested next.

"It's worth a try." Dark Kirisaki shrugged.

"Try it out but I'm sure it won't work. They can build a new door."

"Gruwo~h!"

"Oh shit! The thing from before: it'd seem it wants to settle the score with us two!" Killer Man cursed.

"Hmpf… So be it." Shadow Man calmly muttered.

"What the fuck happened to the firewall, the perimeter sensors and all the security? How did it come in just like that?" Barrel swore.

"There's some kind of purple swirling vortex in the sky which reminds me of those of Forte and the doorways of the "Obscure Nebula"… Guess that's our answer." Dark Kirisaki replied by looking at the screen.

"Muwroh, wroh, wroh."

"There: laughing at us again. We'll shut this thing up."

"Roger, My Master. Shadow Clone! Come!"

Shadow Man and his "Shadow Clones" leapt towards the monster but it swung the sword around its body while spinning to form a complete circle and knocked Shadow Man into the ground: he growled and suddenly vanished to leave a stone behind and reappear atop the "Balrog" with his Muramasa Blade drawn: he plunged it into the head of the thing and it penetrated deeply enough for the monster to drop the large sword into the ground and clutch the head: Shadow Man jumped out and the monster howled.

"Muwro~rgh!"

"Had enough?" Shadow Man taunted.

The thing directed a hate-filled glare at Shadow Man but didn't see Killer Man landing atop its head and hitting the earlier wound with the sickle: but Killer Man got engrossed on it and lowered his guard so the right fist knocked him outta the head while the "Balrog" somehow managed to pick the sword again and hit the ground with it opening cracks and making everything shake: it then jumped into the purple swirl and vanished out of sight but not before dropping a sphere of magma which hit the ground and melted part of it.

"It'll be back with a vengeance." Shadow Man guessed.

"Man. Now we know they _do_ have brains."

"And our security has been compromised… No good, truly. No good. We must find a way to nullify those." Kanou Shade grumbled.

"By the way. Would you let me see the investigation material? Maybe I can pick something…"

"Go ahead but it's all very messy: nothing's concrete yet and I've got about a dozen suspects. I guess I'll be able to narrow some of them down by the eye color… My criteria are the year of birth and trying to calculate a reasonable monthly difference which led to Anaya picking him before me but _after_ Cousin Vadous. At least I know he's Number 2." Kanou Shade admitted as he handed the folder.

"What month are you?"

"October. And Cousin is February. But there's a 10 – month gap which is very hard to fill. I'm trying to narrow down between July and August because it's the middle point but it could be April, June, August or September too… We know too little." He sighed.

Barrel flipped through some files which included a photo and a brief academic curriculum plus hand-scribbled annotations like height, weight, physical traits, dialects or peculiar behaviors: he read through four or five before slowly nodding in understanding and leaving them on their spot while closing the folder.

"You're right. We need more info to narrow it down."

"My point exactly, Mr. Barrel… Maybe these gentlemen could give us a hand? You know the underground well, don't you?"

"I do. I have memory for faces. I have some reputation down there. Kirisaki can handle one sector and I can handle another. Maybe we could try catching a thug of Anaya…"

"Not wise. They're strong but rather simple-minded. Recruited amongst the violent gang members…"

"Discarded then."

"Any other ideas?" Barrel asked.

"Not really…"

"We'll think of something then. We should keep an eye out for that "furnace" thing…" Barrel warned.

"I believe Cousin is taking care of that already. But he wouldn't go into details just in case. He said they'd have a surprise." He smiled.

"Hmpf… If he said so then it's gotta be literal…" Barrel formed a smug smile across his face.

"I'll be going back to continue my research in the public library: I'll have the phone off but emails will silently reach me."

"Agreed."

Kanou Shade came out and so did master and apprentice: Barrel sat down on the chair and closed his eyes: he then rummaged on his jacket's right pocket and took out his empty PET.

"… Colonel… You did the right thing but there are moments where I wish you'd still be here… Between you and me we could have a better leadership like in March… Half a year… This half a year has been painful enough and I can't imagine how much more painful it's going to become… I know I kept backups of you… But you wouldn't remember that June day… And lying to you would be… Bad. I'm torn. I'm not sure what to anymore. I know you and I have done mistakes but… We're not perfect either." He muttered with obvious pain and sadness.

He sighed and pocketed it again while standing up and bringing the right hand to his forehead.

"I need to tone it down and not neglect sleep or I'll collapse… But I can't falter right now… Doctor Terror… You must be defeated. Colonel would see to it. And this is for Colonel and Iris…!"

He closed his right fist and made a grimace…


	33. Chapter 33: Boiling dawn

**Chapter 33: Boiling dawn**

08:08 AM (Norway Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… All personnel have been evacuated. We're ready to begin the full-power start-up of the "furnace"… It'll take some days to achieve the 100% figure but we hope to reach a 10% figure by the end of today."

"Good enough. Start."

"Roger, Doctor Terror."

"Heh, heh, heh. The biggest rumbling machine in the world and it belongs to us… Heh, heh, heh."

"Phoenix Slayer – sama. Please come to Breeding Pit 17 in Sub-level 11: one "new-breed" Balrog is being hard to control…"

"Ops. My call… I'll have to go."

"Sure. You can always patch in the CCTV imagery so you won't miss the start-up of the thing…"

Black Doom was still checking on the gigantic machine when Phoenix Slayer walked up from behind and looked out with amusement on his face: a voice rang out through a speaker and he looked rather annoyed by the timing.

"Roger…"

He walked out while two of the cylinders coming out of the machine slowly travelled along the rails until they were inserted: two safety locks came up behind them and secured them on place.

"Fuel deposit insertion completed… Starting pumping up: 50% output from each one… Estimated total mass: 5% of total capacity… No abnormalities detected in pumping pipes… Main container integer: mass is starting to build up and energy is being outputted…"

"Heh, heh, heh. It's working… It's working!" Black Doom chuckled.

"Sure it is. I designed it, after all…" "Doctor Terror" chuckled as well.

08:15 AM (Norway Time)…

"… Alright. This is the room in question but I don't see any "Balrog" here unless they're beneath the magma. Or did someone call me out here just to troll me?"

"Ya could say so, Mr. Anderson."

"Heat Man?"

"Nope."

"Wait, that voice…"

"Uncle Smith came with his two-pound fancy boat."

"HUH? Wait a minute! You're Omega!"

"Bravo, Holmes."

"How did you get here?"

"Ask your imagination."

Phoenix Slayer came into the room and walked across a catwalk when he spotted Omega sitting on the edge of a ledge and having a reflecting-like pose by leaning the right elbow over his right hip and using his open right hand as support for his head: he looked slightly amused as he toyed with his gun by spinning it around by the edges.

"Are ya gonna use a P90 next?"

"P90?"

"P90 sub-machine gun: just like Solidus."

"Dunno who Solidus is."

"What. Your Boss didn't treat you to _MGS2_: _Sons of Liberty_? He's a mean guy your Boss, isn't he?" He asked with a smile.

"Whatever." He grumbled back.

"The ever?"

"That sounds silly. Now, did you want a fight? I'll give you one and your plasma gun ain't gonna impress me anymore."

"Maybe Metal Gear REX is gonna crush you?"

"Metal Gear REX? What the heck is that?" He frowned.

"Look it up on Ms. Wikipedia, Mr. Anderson."

"Stop giving me silly nicknames! My name is Phoenix Slayer. End of the tale! Lava Buster!"

"Cheap and slow."

Phoenix Slayer began to shoot rounds of magma towards Omega but he slid the switch on his gun and kept on spinning it around thus all shots flew past Omega and hit the wall to then slide down into the pool beneath them: Phoenix Slayer cursed and drew his blades to try to hit Omega but he was blocked by his pyramidal sword which he'd drawn in less than an eye's blink: Omega then leapt into the air and hummed the _Let It Be_ tune as he kicked Phoenix Slayer's helmet from above and sent him towards the wall ultimately crashing there: Phoenix Slayer cursed and broke free to jump at Omega while loading energy on his right hand but a piece of shrapnel cut through it and caused its implosion thus having the attack harm him instead: Omega appeared in front of him again and suddenly seized his crotch while frowning.

"Oh man. Of course. Dr. Cossack was too noble and they couldn't think of that back then… Too bad." He sighed in defeat.

"What?" He frowned.

"Never mind, Phoenix Wright. By the way, did you meet the "God Phoenix" already?"

"What "God Phoenix"?"

"Your _senpai_ didn't show it to you, eh? Bad guy, really. But I guess he'll soon get a surprise."

"Heat 'em all! Grand Burner!"

"What the hell are you doing here, Heat Man?"

"I was bored, man! That machine doesn't do anything cool! I wanna heat that guy up!" Heat Man exclaimed.

"Head back or you'll become food for the "Balrogs"…!"

"Shaddup, punk! This guy's mine! Heat Stamp!"

Heat Man compacted into his lighter form and then tried to jump towards Omega but he kicked him away and into the cavity left behind in the wall when Phoenix Slayer had crashed against it: Heat Man resumed his normal form and began to shoot out flames at wild before a gigantic hand emerged from the magma, closed around him, and drew him inside of it along protests which were ended by a prolonged yell of agony: Omega stopped and looked surprised while Phoenix Slayer displayed no compassion.

"What a fool. We need to purge fools out. Coming!"

The whole set of catwalks and steel beams began to shake and rattle as a "new-breed Balrog" emerged from the magma: it had the remains of wounds atop its head and Omega noticed those.

"Hey. That's the one who got into the Science Labs!"

"Correct. We've promoted it given its greater intelligence. Meet Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs!" Phoenix Slayer grinned.

"Another name taken from Tolkien mythology… Well then… Come, big ugly bully, and let's end this tale." Omega grinned.

"Muwro~rgh!"

Gothmog drew the sword and drew the circle around the room to form the cyclone of fire yet Omega was protected by a pale blue field of energy as he began to suck some magma up and then transform it into raw plasma but Gothmog suddenly drew a fiery whip which it used to knock the gun out of Omega's hand and having it fall into the threshold: Omega wasn't taken aback and suddenly drew a lance with the same kind of blade as his sword yet it could be extended to three times its usual length.

"Guess we'll have to be somewhat old-fashioned here."

He dove for the enemy and landed atop the right shoulder where he attacked it three times with the lance yet he was unable to crack the new armor: Omega had to jump away before Gothmog countered his attempt at attacking and suddenly spun the lance around making it become a two-ended lance capable of cutting in a circular shape: Gothmog blocked it with the armor on the right wrist and punched Omega who hit the wall and formed a mark there: he had to quickly warp out of the spot and appeared in threshold where he sneaked on Phoenix Slayer from behind knocked him out to retrieve his gun: he resumed loading plasma and shot it at the sword yet it shone with a pale green light and the plasma was bounced back at the magma where it melted.

"Hum. So you can improve along the way… This could be interesting, Mr. Ugly Bully." He grinned.

"Muwroh, wroh, wroh." It emitted a guttural chuckle.

"… Something's wrong! The reactor's mass is increasing beyond parameters despite having just two of the sixteen cylinders working right now…! The power levels are more than we desired!" Black Doom could be heard exclaiming close by.

"Oho. Someone turned on the TV." Omega grinned.

"What are you waiting for? Eject the combustible with the manual release and the mass will be vented off!" "Doctor Terror" commanded.

"I'm on it, Boss! I'm synchronizing both of them because if one of them is left flowing even for less than ten seconds the balance will come apart and it'll be mayhem!" Black Doom exclaimed.

"You should sweat a bit more, Black Doom… _No pain no gain_. But I should be focusing on tackling this big ugly bully guy." He grinned.

"Uwrogh!" It roared.

"You wanna insult me, eh? I don't care: but this place is getting narrow so why don't we go outside? Follow me!"

Omega climbed upwards and opened a service panel which unlocked a hatch set on the ceiling and revealed a shaft climbing towards the surface so he began to climb it up while humming his tune and looking downwards to see Gothmog following him by flying upwards: they eventually came out next to the parked Shagohod and Omega grinned as he quickly climbed into the control cabin and ignited the rocket boosters to run away faster than Gothmog could fly or run: he circled the fortress and stopped next to the main heat venting shaft from which a lot of heat was coming out: Omega climbed out and looked downwards while tapping his right ear-pad.

"I managed to halt it, Boss…! That was ugly enough. Some mechanical component wasn't working well enough I guess. Luckily enough we were just using an eight of the total fuel." Black Doom sighed in relief.

"I'm starting to wonder if it was a coincidence or not and I'd rather stake it wasn't. _Kyoudai_ has been here and done his work: he must've set it up to implode if it's brought up to full power…" "Doctor Terror" grumbled over the radio.

"That reminds me… Phoenix Slayer is taking an awfully long time to check on that Balrog… Oi, Phoenix Slayer? Do you copy? What's going up there: Heat Man's acting like an idiot again or what?"

"O~w… My head! Omega, _senpai_! Omega's here and Gothmog went after him by exiting into the surface…!" Phoenix Slayer reported.

"Damn it. Where are they?"

"Closer than you think, Lestrade~… Oi, Goth loli! Catch me!"

Omega dropped down the shaft and Gothmog jumped after him: Omega quickly bounced off the walls and then shot two plasma spheres at the wings to open holes on it and increase his descent speed: Gothmog tried to grip the walls but they were too smooth and the stairway sections easily broke away given his weight: Omega calmly slid down the walls while jumping from one side to the other and humming a tune: there was a loud sound of something heavy crashing and some alarms went off around the area.

"Heh, heh, heh." Omega chuckled.

"By all the… Gothmog! He's crushed the top part of the reactor and the canisters have jumped off and splintered! Luckily the thing was turned off by now…! The lower base is intact but the main vessel has been punctured and is now exposed to the outer environment…! And those wounds on the wings: they must've been from that guy's plasma gun!" Black doom cursed from below.

"Damn them all! _Kyoudai_ wants to sabotage my progress: the son of a bitch is back with a vengeance for that of this early morning. But I can also go for a vengeance! Cosmo Man! Find the intruders and trap them inside of the "Obscure Nebula" forever!" "Doctor Terror" roared.

"Roger!"

"Oho. Golden Boy's coming for me, eh? I'll show him how good I'm at playing cat-and-mouse… Let's try this tunnel."

Omega melted a doorway and ran inside of a stone tunnel which he ran down until he reached a cavern where Stone Man was watching at the footage and giving him the back.

"Not fair! Why does Cosmo Man get all the credit? When will my turn to shine come? Boss is so unfair, really!" He grumbled.

"Yo. Catch me."

"Huh? The intruder mouse! Come back here, you damned…!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

Omega ran into another cave where he found Bomber Man throwing bombs towards a set of moving Ratton Viruses and apparently improving his aiming.

"Yo! Bomber Man's evil cousin! Bite my leg!"

"HUH? An intruder! I'm so gonna get ascended!" Bomber Man exclaimed as he whipped around.

"That's if you can catch me~!" Omega taunted.

He then ran into yet another room where he found both Colored Man and Magic Man training against some dummy Navis: he grinned and stuck a sticker with the words "this guy is weak" to Colored Man's back and another to Magic Man's back which read "this guy is cheap" before running off and imitating a wolf's howling.

"Huh? What's this?" Both wondered.

They spotted the stickers and removed them only to get annoyed and face each other.

"So I'm weak!" Colored Man grumbled.

"So I'm silly!" Magic Man grumbled next.

"You _baka_~!"

"You imbecile~!"

"Oi! You two! Have you seen the intruder?" Bomber Man questioned as he ran inside of the room.

"NO!"

"Oi, Bomber Man! I go first!" Stone Man grumbled.

"I go!"

"I go!"

"Eat bomb!"

"Eat stone!"

"Eat ball!"

"Eat magic!"

The four Navis began a four-way-battle while Omega kept on running down the tunnels to then find Circus Man training his lions: he grinned and placed a Stealth Mine behind him before throwing a whistle at his head from behind to catch his attention.

"Catch me you old shabby clown!"

"Fu-ru-ru~! Not so fast! Happy…! Kya~h!"

"Happy Kyah. Perfect. I've got a working title for my next short story involving Uncle Omega and the Old Shabby Clown Who Got Blown Skywards." Omega laughed.

"That's so silly, really." Vadous grumbled over the radio.

"I'm going back already and leaving these guys to fool around: Cosmo Man will have to sign some expedients today."

"Sure, sure… Just don't break anything else."

"Roger."

"YOU IMBECILES! WHERE DID THE INTRUDER GO OFF TO?" Cosmo Man roared some meters away.

"Shaddup!" Four voices snapped.

"Rebellion then!"

"So what!"

"Open up, "Obscure Nebula"! Swallow these fools and make them go through eternal agony! Hah!" He commanded.

"Mugro~h!"

"See?" Omega grinned.

"Jeez."

"Hmpf. Useless idiots. Whatever. All armies and regimes must have their purges to leave only the competent ones there. The intruder must be going through there… I'll catch up with them!" Cosmo Man could be heard grumbling as he ran down the corridor.

"Heh, heh, heh. Unless you're Racing Man then you won't be able to catch up with me so easily, Golden Boy." Omega chuckled.

"Just be hopeful that this tunnel ain't a dead end. I can't come up with the gateways so deep underground and you'd need to climb up."

"Don't worry… I feel some air… Here! A freight elevator. Hop! Next stop: surface. Treading behemoths, runways, watch-towers and doorways can be bought there." He laughed.

"Sure, sure…"

The freight elevator allowed Omega to reach the surface about half a kilometer from the main bulk of the mountain Angband was and next to a set of newly-erected metallic buildings: he lifted his eyebrows but then spotted laser fences and CCTV cameras in all corners of the buildings plus patrols of three to four Net Navis along with a heliport with a Hind D chopper parked in the center of it.

"Some kind of research center…? But this should be a job for Shadow Man I guess. Let's pull out, Boss. We've done enough, I believe."

"Yeah. We've damaged the reactor and they'll need the remainder of today to fix it up. Opening gateway… Go."

"Bye-bye!"

A purple gateway formed and Omega jumped inside just as Cosmo Man appeared there too: he stopped to catch his breath and then made a signal to a patrol.

"Did you see anyone?"

"A red and blonde guy just left but we thought he was of the Elite – Class so we didn't do anything." One admitted.

"They've left, Black Doom."

"No big deal. They'll be back to try to check the research lab. We must strengthen its defenses." Black Doom replied.

"Roger. I'll smash them!"

"Go ahead and do us a favor."

"Get ready, Red Intruder! I'll defeat you…"

Cosmo Man chuckled under his breath and formed a smug smile…


	34. Chapter 34: Cat and mouse

**Chapter 34: Cat-and-mouse**

16:40 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… Hmmm? Weird. Where did this come from?"

"Dunno… Maybe they're trying to test a new background?"

"How foolish!"

"Guwa~h!"

"I'll have my vengeance~…!"

"That's as far as you come."

"Muwo~h… Blues! I've come to exact my vengeance~…!"

"Damn it. What a persistent bastard… Desert Man!"

Two Navis had been keeping watch of the IPC Firewall when a torrent of sand suddenly washed them up and Desert Man emerged from beneath the ground while making his typical dry chuckle.

"But this time I've got a strategy!" A voice exclaimed.

"Damn it. Sunayama Noboru? You were in jail!" Enzan exclaimed while making a grimace.

"Not anymore! You little punk! Desert Man rescued me. And he's gotten some new cool abilities too."

Sunayama Noboru showed up using his communications screen while having a smug smile across his face: Enzan growled and looked like he was getting pretty annoyed.

"Go, Blues! Long Blade!"

"Eat this!"

"Lion Head!"

"Useless!"

"I wonder about that…"

Desert Man suddenly sank into the sand and vanished out of sight but Blues calmly drew something.

"Poison Seed!"

"Wha~t? You're mad!"

"No. Air Shoes Navi Customizer Program…"

"Uo~h…! Damn it…! My body is being filled with this poison…! But I can still fight…! Sand Cube! Ant Holes! Great Lion Head!"

"Slow. Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In! Dream Sword! Go, Blues!"

"Eat this!"

"Mukro~h!"

"Che. I underestimated them!" Sunayama cursed.

"Don't you all do that?" A familiar voice questioned from behind him with a hint of annoyance.

"Who…?"

THUD!

"Barrel."

"No way! Wily – sama's son!"

"ADOPTIVE son."

"Whoa! Mr. Barrel…?"

Barrel came into the screen while looking calm while Sunaya could be heard grumbling off-screen: Barrel then seized him and dragged him out into a patrol car parked close by where he handcuffed him.

"Keep at your stuff, Ijuuin Enzan. This guy will go through some questioning to try to find out how he escaped." Barrel told Enzan.

"Roger."

The screen shut down and Enzan lifted his eyebrows before slipping: his interphone then buzzed.

"Hello?"

"Ijuuin Enzan." A voice called out.

"This voice…?" He wondered.

"Terrific, ain't it?"

"D-Doctor Terror? How can you use the interphone? Did you send Black Doom to hijack it? Or, rather… Your avatar?"

"No. I'm in the garage."

"What!"

Enzan quickly brought up CCTV imagery of the garage and spotted a man dressed like a car mechanic with an IPC cap which hid most of his face yet it could be seen that he was clean shaven and had very faint traces of a recently shaven beard and moustache: a smug smile was drawn across his face and Enzan spotted that he had gloves on.

"Surprised?" "Doctor Terror" taunted.

"I'll admit that." He decided to play along.

"You'd rather think I'd send a pawn, eh? But given _kyoudai_'s interference my best agents are pretty busy. So I came myself. After all I was trained to be a field agent. But I laugh at James Bond's style: that's not real espionage, that's a farce." He laughed.

Enzan quickly made some gestures to Blues and he nodded in agreement before leaving the PC.

"What do you want? Taunt me?"

"Guess so. Today I feel in a good mood despite _kyoudai_'s interference: it helped purge some imbeciles." His grin became visible again.

"You're not gonna rig my limo with a bomb, are you?" Enzan seemed to guess what he was up to.

"What did I say? I hate being repetitive. That's what a man lacking in imagination would do. But I am dynamic, like a dynamic IP address which always changes…" He chuckled.

"So. There you are." A voice rang out.

"Barrel, huh? My number three eyesore."

"Number three… Gotta have pissed you off a lot."

Barrel had come in behind the man with the hands stuffed in his coat's pockets and the man didn't bother to turn but lowered the hands to have them be parallel to his body.

"Show your face." Barrel challenged.

"Ah. There you are, Black Doom. Nice timing."

"Sorry for the hold-up."

"What!"

Barrel turned south but there was no – one there and when he looked again he caught sight of a side door shutting.

"Ijuuin Enzan! Where does that door lead to?"

"Hmmm… That's the cargo hold… I mean… Where we load the trucks with the merchandise…" Enzan recalled.

"Alright."

Barrel ran into the room and found the man who'd climbed into a truck's cabin so Barrel quickly picked a motorbike helmet and jumped into one of the parked bikes to chase the truck as it ran outside through the garage shutter and drove away from the building: Barrel quickly inputted some commands into the PET.

"Do you hear me, Ijuuin Enzan?"

"Yeah, I do. The trucks have a GPS built into them which can't be removed by bare hands or in a rush. I believe he's toying with us by imitating the wild chases of the Bond films."

"No wonder. I wouldn't be surprised if he's armed or if he tries to use the truck to run me over." Barrel calmly replied.

"Yeah. And I do believe that his Navis are busy. If not he wouldn't have come out in such a bold manner."

"Playing Holmes, Lestrade?" The villain taunted.

"You caught our frequency?" Enzan grumbled.

"There's nothing which escapes me."

"What. You know it all? Even the names of the MI5 agents?" Barrel taunted next without being impressed.

"I didn't mean that but it wouldn't be too difficult to steal those off given my resources." He shrugged his shoulders.

"And you want to play the enigmatic villain by not letting us know your face or your real name… Terror isn't pronounced "Towa" at all. You just happened to play along with Omega." Barrel told him.

"Of course. Did you really think I'd use such a vain name? But you're somewhat linked to Bond, Barrel."

"Apart from the "B" letter I don't see how…" He began to argue.

"A gun's barrel: isn't that the trademark icon?"

"Grfjtx. That has nothing to do with me. Ijuuin Enzan: do you always keep your trucks' deposits loaded before coming out?"

"No. They can stop and refuel along the way."

"Can't you figure out the level of fuel in that one? Locate the guy who last drove it." Barrel suggested.

"Good idea. Blues. Call all truck drivers and ask who the last one to drive Truck 3 was and when plus how much fuel was left."

"Acknowledged, Enzan – sama."

"Heh, heh, heh. _Good luck_."

"Shaddup. You psycho."

"Rather short temper, eh, Ijuuin Enzan?"

"Enzan – sama? I found the info: the truck can do another 80 kilometers at the average speed of 60 km/h but if you go at the max speed of 90 km/h then it becomes around 22 kilometers… And the motorbike can do 55 kilometers at its current speed…" Blues reported.

"Let's contact the police: we need to set blockades."

"I'm afraid they're busy being introduced to Gothmog."

"Introduced to whom?" Enzan frowned.

"Ask Ground Man and Dust Man."

"That doesn't sound good. At all." Enzan grimly muttered.

"Should I check it out, Enzan – sama?"

"Call them yeah but stay here." Enzan commanded.

"Huh? Who's there…? Oh! Ijuuin… Eh… We're in a pinch, ya see. Call ya later, see." Dotarou timidly replied to the call.

"I am in the midst of trouble, de gozaru. Later, de gozaru."

"… So it's true, after all. I'll try calling the police station… Huh? No tune. Weird. Did their line go down or what? Let's try Mr. Barrel's contact, that policeman… Hello, hello?"

"Huh? Oh. You're Barrel's friend? Well. Sorry. We're somewhat busy trying to contain the situation."

"What's going on?"

"One of those large monsters came here."

"A "Balrog" is there? Fuck." Enzan cursed.

"Oh yeah. And this one seems to be cleverer and stronger too: even those two Navis are having a hard time handling it. We'd like to get some reinforcements but all network lanes are cut off so…"

"So they have to physically get there."

"And it's dangerous."

"Why?"

"The thing's made the heating system go mad and it's 38 Celsius inside of there. It ain't a nice temperature transition when it's 9 Celsius here on the streets… Nobody can come in and the Operators have to handle it from afar…" The policeman detailed.

"Damn them all." Enzan growled.

"Feeling the despair, Ijuuin Enzan and Barrel?"

"Listen up: can you call the closest police station and request a blockade of Crossing Avenue around the southern end? A thief stole an IPC truck and we're trying to stop them." Enzan requested.

"I'll see what we can do."

"Thank you."

"Whatever you come up with is pointless!" "Doctor Terror" proclaimed while laughing.

"Go have some psychoanalysis." Barrel mocked.

"I'd do if I found a descendant of Freud." He merely replied.

"Damn. This guy isn't impressed by anything?"

"No. And I've got a little toy here for you, Barrel."

He opened the driver's window and tossed a bear trap into the ground: Barrel jumped off the bike just as the bear trap crunched the front tire and blew it up thus violently tossing the bike sideways and it halted when hitting a mail-box: Barrel stood up and cursed as the truck ran away but then checked his PET.

"I'm alright. Where's the bastard heading to?"

"He's almost at the end of Crossing Avenue by now…"

"Che. They won't make it on time." Barrel grumbled.

"At least we've still got the GPS signal."

"Yeah. Luckily it can't be disabled just like that."

Barrel's PET rang so he cut the call with Enzan and patched in Vadous who was apparently driving.

"I heard there was some trouble in Crossing Avenue so I'm heading over there: I'm a minute away." He reported.

"Your rival has stolen an IPC truck and is heading down there but he can only do about 15 kilometers at his current speed." Barrel quickly summed up for him.

"What! Well. I happen to carry Blood Shadow with me. Ask Ijuuin Enzan if I can Plug-In into the control computer." He requested.

"Roger."

Barrel quickly wrote an email and sent it out only to receive the answer very quickly.

"He says "yeah" so go ahead." He confirmed.

"Good! I see the truck… I gotta stop… Good. Plug In! Blood Shadow, Transmission!" Vadous exclaimed.

"So! _Kyoudai_. Glad you joined the party…"

"This is your idea of party? It looks like a James Bond movie car chase no matter how you look at it, Towa – something."

"Patent that name."

"I didn't make it up! I just know your name starts like that but since the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" died before she could say the rest of it then we've been stuck at it for all these months." Vadous grumbled.

"I knew that."

"I talk too much, really." He fumed.

"Admitting weaknesses?" The rival taunted.

"Who hasn't a weakness?" Vadous asked back.

"I don't." He quickly replied.

"Yeah. And you're a super-human now? Clark Kent Version XXL?" Vadous skeptically questioned.

"My, my. Clark Kent will get upset if you treat him like a mere program or object." He laughed.

"No good, Boss… It's on manual and I can't do anything: there are a lot of fail-safes here… IPC was very careful on the aspect of impeding their vehicles from being hijacked by a Net Navi but they didn't think of what'd happen if a human driver hijacked it." Blood Shadow reported.

"Give it up! Whatever you do is useless!"

"I don't need to listen to your boasting. I never boast."

"You don't? I thought you boasted about having the best grades in your promotion, _kyoudai_."

"I _did_ have the best grades in my promotion, you moron. That bitch wouldn't have picked us up if we didn't." He grumbled.

"Don't dare to use such a low-class adjective on Her Grace!" The villain hissed back.

"Like I cared."

"Hmpf! Words fitting a treacherous dog." He scoffed.

"So you mean me as well?" Barrel sarcastically asked.

"You! Don't get in my way."

"Too bad. I'm resolved to. I'm pretty stubborn, you see. And you won't shake me off so easily." Barrel told him.

"Whatever. I'll have you bastards' heads in silver platters offered to Her Grace sooner or later."

"He's slowing down… The only place nearby is an abandoned warehouse which shows obvious signs of decay… Try to run ahead of him, Boss, and scout the area." Blood Shadow told him.

"On my way… The cat-and-mouse ends here, my enemy!"

"Come! I'll be waiting to cut you up there like I was Jack the Ripper in the 19th century London! Mwah, hah, hah!"

Vadous parked his car next to the building and climbed out to do a quick check of its perimeter while the truck was still some minutes away of reaching the spot.

"Only one entrance but he could use the broken windows to run out or the holes in the ceiling… Let's call Omega… Omega! Come to my position: I might need you to corner our villain. And call Zero too: three is always better than two." Vadous commanded to Omega over his Link PET after checking the building.

"Alright. I'll be there in about 5 minutes."

"I'll let that guy make the first move but it's very probable that he'll pull a stunt on us to vanish like magic…"

Vadous rushed back to his car and moved some meters away to have a wide vision of the whole building and its surroundings: the truck soon stopped in front of the warehouse and the villain jumped down to then rush in: he was using the right hand to hold the cap down and make it impossible to properly discern his face: he kicked one of the rusted doors open and rushed inside: Vadous heard the sound of heavy objects being dragged across the floor.

"Barricade? He intends to barricade himself? Whatever. It won't save him from Omega." He muttered.

He climbed out of the car and locked it before rushing to the building and using an empty drum as a pillar to jump towards the ceiling and land in the first floor's catwalks: the villain was waiting for him.

"No more cat-and-mouse, _kyoudai_. Today you die. Hra~h!"


	35. Chapter 35: Decoding

**Chapter 35: Decoding**

17:10 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 24th…

"… Hra~h!"

"Huh! Slow!"

"Che!"

"My turn!"

"Come!"

The villain tried to attack Vadous by charging forward with the knife and Vadous barely dodged by jumping sideways: the rival had to step back and aim the knife NW as if trying to block any further attacks while Vadous assumed a standard fighting pose: both slowly circled around without saying a word: Vadous moved forward in a blur and the enemy tried to aim for his neck but he suddenly stepped to the left and kicked his right knee: the involuntary spasm forced the foe to recoil and left him open for attack which he received in the form of an uppercut to his lower jaw: he accidentally let go of the knife and Vadous quickly kicked it at the ground floor but the villain had already recovered and jumped over a drum while seemingly trying to catch his neck with both hands and choke Vadous but he saw him coming and arched his body backwards so he failed: Vadous used the left leg as support point and then spun his right leg around thus hitting his chest.

"Oof!"

"Alright. Let's see your hide."

"Not yet! Hrah! Hah!"

"Huh. Stubborn type."

"T" suddenly managed to recover and began a series of punches and kicks which Vadous barely blocked without too much effort: he made sure to adjust his cap again and then lifted the empty drum to toss it at Vadous but he leapt to the right and the drum bounced off the wall.

"I guess you're trying to look up to Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan but you suck at it, really." He calmly told him.

"Shut up!"

"I finally got it." A voice rang out.

Zero suddenly dropped in the middle on the first floor's catwalks and aimed his sword at the man.

"The reason you told Rock Man that silly name of "Tarmeni Shugeri" this same morning… It's a hint for you real name which you've made up recently…" Zero told him.

"What! It's a hint?" Vadous gasped.

"I thought there was a challenge on it. So I thought of some kind of code and the simplest that came to mind was swapping the vowels out of place by transforming the names to Alphabet… The second name should be read "Shigeru"…" He began explaining.

"There are plenty of men named "Shigeru"… How did you know the rest of it from there?" Vadous frowned.

"Simple. The very first "Shigeru" in any list was Miyamoto Shigeru. Anyone has heard of him." He shrugged.

"The CEO of Nintendo Co. Ltd., you mean to say?" Vadous gasped.

"Famous for creating _Mario_, _Pikmin_ and other games… Amongst which there's the _Legend of Zelda_ series… Since I thought this had a fantasy background I focused there… I looked up each game and got prize: "Tarmeni" is actually "Termina", the parallel world where _Mujura's Mask_ happens to be set at… And by looking at the list of games I found the next one which is gonna come out next year along with the new Wii console. The title picked me off. And there I found our answer." He continued.

"In a game's title?" Vadous looked skeptical.

"Wait until I tell you why I thought of it."

"Well then. Don't beat around the bush."

"The next game is titled… _Towairaitto Purinsesu_… Twilight Princess. Twilight! This guy's name is - TWILIGHT!"

"By all the…!" Vadous gasped.

"So the woman meant to say "Towairaitto" but fell short of "iraitto" that's why we were left with "Towa"…"

"Twilight…! I see… Not bad or good… Not night or dawn… Always in the middle of both… The neutral point… The center…!"

"Hmpf. So you figured it out! Twilight is my title indeed. Those titles of "Doctor" and "Syndicate" were red herrings to throw you off. No more need to hide then… But you're still pending to figure out my civilian name anyway… Heh, heh, heh."

"Oh no. Kanou Shade contacted me: he found you in a photo of 4 years ago in Kyoto's Meiji College of Technology… You were the highest-ranked alumni there… Civilian name: _Yoru Yami_." Zero told him.

"Oh I see… The graduation photo… I knew I was forgetting something there… And I've paid for my mistake…" He shrugged.

He suddenly threw the cap away to reveal how he had neatly combed blonde hair plus a young face: he probably wasn't older than twenty-five years old and they had seen before he had almost no trace of facial hair to him yet Zero seemed to frown.

_Weird. He gives me the vibe that he looks like someone._

"So that's your face. Well. We were right about your age. But all ends here and now, Yoru Yami!"

"Heh. Who said I didn't have some aces up my sleeves, _kyoudai_?"

"Oh fuck." He cursed.

He suddenly tossed a flash-bang grenade into the ground and both of them had to cover their eyes from the flash: when it died down the man was gone.

"Yoru Yami… Twilight…!" Vadous muttered.

17:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… It feels good… I needed to shake off this morning's stress, I really did…"

"Nothing better than this I guess."

"Hmmm… It turns me on."

"That's your masochist self speaking?"

"Guess so… Huh? Oh crap. The auto-phone… Pick it up for me and say I went to the restroom or something like that…"

"Alright…"

Saito had been visiting "Copy" Forte and had let him immobilize and blindfold him for their game when his PET rang: he sighed and "Copy" Forte picked it to then come out of the room while leaving the door slightly adjusted.

"Copy Forte… Where's Hikari Saito?" Barrel asked.

"At the restroom…"

"Well. Tell him when he comes out… We've met the man. And we know both his title and his civilian name."

"Really?" "Copy" Forte gasped.

"Zero cracked it thanks to the silly name the guy dropped earlier in the morning… "Towa" meant "Towairaitto", "Twilight"… And "YY" stands for "Yoru Yami"…" Barrel detailed.

"I see… Do we know his face?"

"Yeah. Blonde. 25 years old… Meter and ninety… I'll explain the details later but transmit this message… That of "Doctor Terror" was a red herring he came up with based on Omega's trolling."

"I thought as much… I'll tell the guys."

"Good. Later."

"Later…"

"Twilight… Yoru Yami…" Saito muttered.

"Yeah… So that's how it was… I guess the jerk timed it all so that we'd find out in an emblematic day as today…"

"Yeah… Well… Keep on… Tease me with the toy…"

"Roger."

"Copy" Forte closed the door and picked the penis-shaped toy from the table which he used to rub Saito's nipples where the two metallic cups had been clipped at: Saito giggled and "Copy" Forte began to tease his balls in a slow manner.

"Ah… That feels good… Keep at it…" He requested.

"Alright."

"Copy" Forte kept at it and Saito began to emit some low-toned moans: "Copy" Forte then slowly travelled down across Saito's torso with the toy and teased his penis' head before stuffing it into Saito's insides: he gasped for a second but then formed a smile.

"Ah… Ah… It feels good down here… Why don't you join it too? It makes me feel alive…"

"Heh, heh. I knew you'd say that, Rock Man. Well then. Let's get started, shall we?" He grinned as he loomed over him.

"Yeah… Get started already…"

"Copy" Forte nodded and slowly stuffed his hard penis into Saito's insides: Saito began to moan as his companion moved in and out at a constant pace and he began to rub Saito's penis to harden it: he kept on moaning while "Copy" Forte used the left hand to tease his balls again: Saito clenched his teeth and arched his body backwards.

"I'm releasing!"

"Go ahead!"

Saito let out a large moan of satisfaction as he released and stained his body with the white stains: he panted while he recovered while "Copy" Forte closed his eyes and released inside of Saito: he also panted as well and formed a broad smile over his face.

"Wanna more?" He challenged.

"You bet. Let me have a tasteful."

"Alright."

"Copy" Forte moved upwards and stuck out his penis so that Saito could start to lick its head and "Copy" Forte carefully guided his movements by moving his head from behind: he began to look excited and spotted how the vibrator left in Saito's insides was turning him hard again: he giggled and pulled the chain of the metallic cups to further excite him: Saito increased his pace and "Copy" Forte closed his eyes for a moment as he felt the rush of a release: Saito released again as well.

"Let's have a share."

"Deal."

They started a kiss and let passion move them as "Copy" Forte carefully reached for Saito's penis and began to rub its head while using the left hand to tease his insides by pulling the vibrator out and back inside so he got excited again: "Copy" Forte suddenly grabbed part of the base's skin with his fingers and Saito seemed to react to that: he suddenly let go and Saito released once again: they broke their kiss and "Copy" Forte amusedly looked at their connecting string.

"You can be somewhat of a mean guy." Saito amusedly told him.

"Guess so."

"Well. I guess that's enough: I don't want to come back home at a late hour, anyway. I guess Netto got told the news. You should tell Shirakami as well… Not that it'll make much of a difference anyway… But we'll show him that we're not afraid of his names!"

"I know, _darling_." "Copy" Forte grinned.

17:57 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! Twilight… What are you going to do next?"

"It is easy, Your Grace. I shall firstly repair the machine and when it's functional then we'll be able to produce new weaponry which will allow us to gain the upper hand in future confrontations… In the end those two couldn't defeat Gothmog though. It was amusing to see."

"So it was. Tee, heh, heh."

Twilight or Yoru Yami was speaking with Anaya as he sat on his armchair which he'd lowered to ground level: Anaya had her usual leather outfit on and carried a cat-o'-nine-tails whip on her right hand.

"I had some fun in one of our establishments today. Some good stuff yet somewhat out of my usual type… But well. You can't expect good stuff in such a day…" She shrugged.

"Obviously, Your Grace."

"Anyway. Marco! Where'd ya go off to?"

"I shall not offer any apologies: I was checking on the finances of two institutions…" He announced as he walked in while bowing.

"Anything odd?"

"Institution R36, Your Grace… They had 100,000Z of budget for the material yet they've spent _four times that number_. I believe they bought things which weren't allotted for and I suspect drugs. They must be the idiotic types which don't realize the thin ice they're standing atop of and think no – one will care as long as they get clients yet the client numbers have been decreasing. The drugs must be for personal amusement and they must be going out of the contract. What should be done?"

"Twilight! Send Black Doom there and kill all but one. I want one to survive and tell the others. And let the police shut it down: I can't tolerate imbeciles who spend four times the budget I gave them. They'll regret laughing at me dearly enough. Nobody questions MY authority and MY power in the underground!"

"Roger and acknowledged. Should I send them immediately?"

"Can someone else take care of those repairs?"

"Well, Black Doom was just overseeing. Cosmo Man can take up that post without any trouble or delay." He quickly replied.

"Then go ahead."

"Roger."

"Marco! Keep on sniffing about those finances and so circulate some rumors about what happens to the guys or gals who try to play smart with me. Make it deadly." She ordered next.

"As you desire, Your Grace…"

Izono stepped out of the room while Anaya sat down on a char and agitated the cat-o'-nine-tails in a totally uninterested manner: she then frowned and seemed to be thinking of something.

"Say, Twilight…"

"Do order me, Your Grace."

"Well. I was wondering… What became of that old man, Cossack?"

"Oh? _Comrade_ Cossack? He went back to Sharo right after the defeat of the WWW… I hear he's secluded himself and will not see much people yet he will sometimes be a lecturer in mathematics… I guess the encounter with "Original" Forte was too much for him to handle… Should we take care of that man, Your Grace?"

"No, no! I was just wondering. A little curiosity. Don't mind the man: he wouldn't hurt a fly anyway. Say. We could stage a little something to give headaches to some people elsewhere…"

"Such as…?"

"Tee, heh, heh. Send Black Doom and Phoenix Slayer to raze the prison they locked us into plus some Balrogs via the Cyber World. Save it for the 26th… I want them to pay for their savage manners!"

She stood up and hit the chair she'd been sitting at with the cat-o'-nine-tails whip thus tossing it to the ground and breaking it: she kept on hitting it and Twilight was seemingly taken away but he didn't move or speak at all while she vented off.

"There. I feel better by now. Hmpf. They'll have a good headache and we can record what happens using their own cameras to then sell the recording to the big boys' club… CNN, BBC, Satellite TV, DNN… They won't be able to hide it: their prisons aren't safe places anymore and when everyone sees that a mad race to possess Copy Roids will begin. Could we produce them?" She grinned.

"It wouldn't pose much of a trouble… I know of one or two places where it could be done in an automated manner… Yet it'd be somewhat hard to keep it secret for long… And the production takes at least 60 hours by standard methods if we go by the currently existing model which needs several hours of recharging…" Twilight rubbed his chin and was seemingly calculating the feasibility of the whole thing.

"Good enough. We're not in a rush. But it'll be funny to see how much money those guys are disposed to pay for just ONE Copy Roid… What happened to the ones in Cyber City?" She suggested.

"Damaged beyond repair: they were scrapped, Your Grace." He calmly nodded his head sideways.

"Pity. We could've reused them. Well. Whatever. We'll eventually produce our own models so no big loss."

"Roger."

"By the way… Do you think that bastard realized it?" She suddenly asked with a strange glint to her eyes.

"I don't think so, Your Grace, yet… Zero seemed to get the vibe: and given how stubborn he is he'll spend days trying to find a proper explanation to that… I can assure you so, Your Grace…" He politely bowed.

"Oh yeah? Perfect, then. The drama and enigma wouldn't be complete sans this last ace-in-the-hole…"

"Indeed, Your Grace. There's nothing more hideous than an incomplete or incompetent drama which fails to catch the viewer's attention and to drag them into it…"

"I just remember something which I think it's related to you picking the title of "Twilight"… In the _Fellowship of the Ring_ book when Gandalf visits Saruman he claims to be the "Saruman of Many Colors" and Gandalf commented that he preferred white… "White! It serves as a beginning. The white page can be overwritten. The white cloth can be dyed, and the white light might be broken." … And it's true. The white light breaks down into the three primary colors… _Red, Green & Blue_! And that's why they named the very first _Pocket Monsters_ games like that yet the Ameroupe guys screwed the whole grace away! And they named "Yellow" the _Pikachuu_ game too… Really… You can't trust them to not to screw over something in their "localizations"… The original will always beat that thing a hundred times over." She narrated.

"It is true that I got inspired by Saruman. He was "white" but then turned "of many colors" so as to say that he was in no – one's side and that acted upon his will…" Twilight smiled.

"Hah! My institution never fails me."

"Has it ever, Your Grace? Huh! I do apologize. It sounded too rude and vulgar… I shall offer no excuses." He gasped.

"Bah. Don't mind it. Your loyalty is unquestionable to begin with: that's why I put some more effort in training you because I wanted to have _insurance_… And I did believe you'd eventually show up but that you'd go by my teachings and wait for the right moment… Which you did. So there's nothing you should be ashamed of, Twilight, my former apprentice…" She calmly grinned at him.

"Thank you very much, Your Grace."

"Tee, heh, heh. Tomorrow is a truce day but the day after tomorrow… The real show is gonna begin. Better get ready… Tee, heh, heh."

She giggled aloud while Twilight formed a smug smile…


	36. Chapter 36: Christmas Day

**Chapter 36: Christmas Day**

08:18 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 25th…

"… Netto. Oi. Wake up, Netto."

"Hmmm…"

"Happy Christmas."

"Whoa!"

Netto was being slow to wake up when Saito pronounced the two "magical" words and Netto quickly sat up on the bed to look at Saito standing next to him and sporting a bluish bath-robe with the Hikari crest on the right side of the torso: he had a broad grin on his face and his eyes had a curious sparkling to them.

"It finally came! Christmas day! Man! I thought it'd never come! Are Papa and Mama awake already?"

"Yeah. So let's go check if Santa Claus dropped by."

"Yay!"

Netto put on his brownish bath-robe and the slippers to follow Saito downstairs: Yuuichirou and Haruka were standing in front of the closed living room doorway and smiling.

"Good morning, Netto, Saito. Are you ready?"

"Anytime!" Netto grinned.

"Sure." Saito calmly shrugged.

"Tee, heh, heh. We'll see, we'll see…"

Haruka slowly pulled the doorway open and the four of them gasped in awe upon seeing the presents laid out around the Christmas tree shining in the midst of the room: they walked over to it and began to look around while Saito discreetly tugging Netto's bath-robe from behind to hold him at bay and impede him from rushing in: Netto groaned in disappointment but Saito didn't let go.

"Let's see… Saito. Here's one from "Copy" Forte…"

"Oho. Let's see."

Saito picked the wrapping and felt around it before drawing a smile as if he'd guessed the contents: he calmly opened it to reveal a comic-book inside of it.

"Whoa! _The Secret of the Unicorn_…! In the original French too! We're gonna have fun with this." Netto whistled in surprise.

"Netto. Here's one for you from Shirakami."

"Guess it's another! Let's see… Oh yeah! The sequel: _Red Rackham's Treasure_! Yahoo!" Netto grinned.

"A present from Sakurai - san… Oh my. A silk scarf!" Haruka smiled upon unwrapping it.

"And here's one from her too… A wool bracelet…" Yuuichirou commented as he looked at it.

"Dekao… "Program Advance Guide"… Guess he's got a copy himself too."

"Funny. I wrote that. I guess Chisao – kun thought of it." Saito admitted.

"Wha! When did you…?"

"I didn't want to say anything because it felt somewhat silly but since we've tried so many Program Advances I thought I could let others try some of them…" Saito shrugged.

"Meiru sends me an Oosaka Tigers official t-shirt… And Yaito dispatched a hand-made coffee cup… Oh, Chisao sent me a set of four colored pencils too…" Netto muttered.

"Here's a parcel from Shun – kun and Mamoru – kun too… A box of "Metal Cookies" and a CD with the soundtrack of _Pocket Monsters Fire Red & Leaf Green_…" Saito grinned.

"He sends me a CD with the soundtrack for one of my favorite movies as well… Obihiro – kun is a nice boy." Yuuichirou smiled.

"Enzan and Laika… It'd seem your suspicions are true, Saito – niisan, and they really have teamed up… Wow! Giga Chip Delta Ray Edge and Giga Chip Blue Moon… Practical!" Netto whistled in surprise.

"Aragoma Torakichi – kun sent us this… "Practical Field Guide for Net Chess"… Should've seen it coming?" He grinned.

"I think so. Barrel – san send us a Giga Chip too… Cross Divide… He must be feeling lonely without Colonel… We should try to go cheer him up in the Science Labs party… Oho! See, Saito – niisan! A photo album of your training with Kendo Man back when the Red Sun Tournament… You'd do a nice _kendo_ swordsman!" Netto grinned upon spotting the album and flipping through it despite his initial gloomy face.

"Can't say it was a bad thing…" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you know any "Three Musketeers of the 21st century"…? This package is addressed to both of you." Yuuichirou called out.

"They gotta be Omega and the other two." Netto guessed.

"Wow. We just me a few days ago and they sent us a Christmas present even!" Saito whistled in surprise.

"Let's see… Wow. Giga Chip: Bug Rise Sword! Pressing the "B" button will give way to a Bug Fragment – consuming "Dark Sword"… But it doesn't have any evil properties… It just uses up Bug Fragments…"

"Mr. Shade and Mr. Zataki sent a letter signed by them and addressed to the four of us… How curious." Yuuichirou muttered as he held in on his right hand and he adjusted his reading glasses.

"What does it say, dear?" Haruka asked.

"… "Ma'am, sir, and young gentlemen. In times like these it is wise to remain unite and support each other. We wish of you a Merry Christmas day. Yours politely, Zataki Tosho and Kanou Shade."… Brief and polite but he sure goes straight to the point… It's a good counsel, true. Well then: let's finish up here, have breakfast and then go to the Ayanokouji Mansion party!" Yuuichirou smiled.

12:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Welcome! Yaito – sama is on the main room: I shall lead you there and you may leave the coats in the perch."

"Thank you."

The Hikari family members stepped into the hall of the Ayanokouji Mansion and a maid greeted them: they left their coats, gloves and scarf on the perches and then headed into the main room where several persons had sit around the tables: they spotted Higure fooling around with the mop and broom and most of the audience laughing at the scene while he tried to look challenging.

"… And then I went with my Totaling Training Galloping Broom plus my Flying Swimming Running Walking Mop to beat them! De masu! They ran like chicken, de masu!" He exclaimed.

"Yamitarou…" Number Man sighed.

"Ah! Netto! Here, I wanted to give it personally to you… A pendant I made with the Cream Land national symbol…" Pride suddenly rushed towards him and handed it over.

"Oh! Thanks, Princess Pride!"

"This could be useful." Dark Miyabi suddenly loomed from behind him and sounded dull.

"Mi-Miyabi! Man! Don't pop out just like that!"

"Hmpf. Here. Later."

He picked his right hand and placed a _Kawarimi_ Battle Chip there: Netto grinned and pocketed it.

"Miyabi can be a nice guy from time to time."

"Sure thing. Hmmm? Shadow Man sent to my PET a Navi Customizer Program to allow for Kawarimi attacks too…"

"Those could be useful."

"De masu! My present is this! De masu!"

"A Loto Number? I'll be trying it out! Thank you, Higure – san!"

"Oh my. Higure – san!"

"O~h! DE MASU~! Ma – Ma – Ma – Mariko – sensei! Ma'am!"

"So! Netto! Tomorrow I'll be the champion of Akihara Town! I've perfected a 100% original Program Advance!"

"Don't mind 'em! Here, Netto! A bandana with my village's emblem: it might bring luck to ya!" Dingo shoved Dekao apart and stepped forward to give Netto a present.

"Thanks!"

"Niichan! Don't boast! Chu! That thing doesn't work! Chu! And you don't start a fight in Christmas Day: mom says that! Chu!"

"Guts, guts! Roll – cha~n!"

"Hiya, Guts Man. Enjoying the party?"

"Welcome, everyone." Glyde greeted.

"Ah. There you are." Meiru walked over to them.

"The party wouldn't be complete without cha two." Yaito grinned at both of them.

"Come on! It ain't like I'm the center of the Universe."

"Is your mother around here, Meiru – chan?" Haruka asked.

"Yes, ma'am! Over there, with Yaito – chan's parents…"

"Good. I'll go thank her for the presents. Let's go, Yuuichirou – san: you should thank her too."

"Obviously."

"And Dingo here has a sharper instinct than niichan! Chu!"

"No way! I'm being degraded?"

"Heh, heh, heh. Catch up with the times, Dekao!"

"Oh come on. Be serious." Tomahawk Man grumbled.

"So! Netto! I hope you don't get lost trying to find the restroom. Or were you trying to find out if Yaito – chan kept some secret project there or there instead?" Meiru joked.

"No. I just happened to get lost."

"Anyone would've." Saito shrugged.

"Tee, heh, heh. Obviously: but his timid nature didn't allow him to ask my maids! They could've easily told you the way."

"Come on! I said it: I thought I'd be getting in the way."

"You certainly get in MY way to become the Number One Net Battler of Akihara City!" Dekao butted in.

"Ooyama Dekao. You should learn when to remain quiet and not butt where you're not asked for." Barrel told him as he loomed over him from behind.

"Yikes! T-this guy is…!"

"Barrel – san. How many times do we have to tell you? I thought you'd remember him? He's been around the town ever since August, you know, or were you shut up in your place and you didn't notice?" Netto rolled his eyes.

"G-guess so…"

"Did you get my present?" He dully asked.

"Y-yeah… Eh… About… Colonel and…"

"… I'd rather not bring the topic out." He replied with a hint of hesitation to his voice.

"A-alright."

"I'm off to some snacks."

"Snack Man Devours Them All!"

"OMEGA!"

"My."

They suddenly spotted a red blur jumping across the room followed by an already-familiar-yell and someone's muttering: Omega suddenly appeared from the ceiling dropping headfirst to the scare of both Yaito and Meiru who leapt to the right.

"White and red?" He suddenly grinned.

"YOU PERVERT!" They yelled.

"OMEGA! Now what have you done?" Vadous cursed as he ran up next to him with a look of annoyance to his face.

"Exercise them."

"LIAR!"

"What – have – you – done?" He icily asked.

"Drop down like this as Spider Man does."

"Spider Man…?" Netto frowned.

"Ameroupe comic-book guy… College guy who got bit by a radioactive spider and got newfound strength and skills… He then came up with a system to create artificial cobwebs…" Saito summed up.

"Sir! T-this Net Navi did it on purpose to commit a vile and manly crime, sir!" Both girls protested.

"Huh? Ah! Hmmm! I'm about to lose my patience, Omega! To begin with I told you to stay and guard the fort with Blood Shadow and Sigma plus the rest of the crew… Who told you to come over?" He questioned.

"Agent Smith, maybe?"

"Stop with the _Matrix_ jokes. Go back to the HQ or I'm going to remove your head from your body right here and now."

"Ops. I don't wanna become Omega the Beheaded and have to join the Beheaded Club so I'm off."

He turned invisible and they heard him jumping across the room followed by a shriek of a maid near the entrance: Vadous slapped his face in defeat while Kanou Shade (sans the hat or sunglasses) caught up to him at a slow and calm pace.

"My, Cousin. It'd seem you need some tea."

"Yeah. I do. I really am sorry for this incident: believe me when I say I've tried TENS of methods to turn that guy serious but he always finds a way to undo my efforts." He apologized with a reverence.

"Ah! Eh… Well. If cha say so then… Well. It could've been worse so please don't mind it…" Yaito improvised.

"Y-yes, sir… You are not to blame, sir."

"Thank you. Where can I find some tea?"

"Over there, where Meijin – san is at…"

"Thanks. I'm leaving the floor to you, Kanou."

"Alright, Cousin."

Vadous walked away while mumbling under his breath in what seemed to be French while Kanou Shade smiled.

"Cousin has a tendency to get stressed and is somewhat old-school in that he wants to personally make sure that what his employees do doesn't damage our perceptions of him." He commented.

"I've yet to see a true battle by Omega – san but seeing what he did to the Balrog was impressive enough by my standards…"

"Oh. But he did stir up some ruckus in the enemy files the other day and found out a secret research complex which is pending investigation by Shadow Man…" He smiled.

"Hum… Then we better check it out tomorrow…" Saito muttered.

"Indeed. That's the plan."

"So? What's going in that place?" Netto asked.

"One Balrog got promoted to being "Lord" of all Balrogs and given the name of Gothmog taken from the _Silmarilion_… And we did wreck their nuclear fusion machine to force them to work on it and stall for time so that we can organize better… Angband is _not_ intruder-proof as they might believe… Oh true. Cosmo Man is there and he got promoted to being one of the high-rank commanders…" He detailed.

"Gothmog… Sounds scary enough alright." Yaito muttered.

"Sure thing: I jumped off my chair when I saw that thing come into the screen during the movie…" Meiru calmly shrugged her shoulders and didn't sound too impressed.

"Gothmog? What's that? A Sharo meal?"

"Ahem, ahem."

"Yikes! You're… Who?"

"By all the… Laika! Command of the Sharo Army's 13th Network Unit and Operator of Search Man… Remember it!"

"Ooyama has bad memory for people's faces or names. Get used to it, Laika."

Laika had come in behind Dekao who'd butted in again without knowing what the conversation was about: Dekao gasped but didn't know his name so Laika chanted the string it was while Enzan shrugged and didn't look surprised at that.

"Wha~t? Enzan! You've been badmouthing me?"

"No. I've been busier handling all those jerks. But today isn't a day to do that anyway." Enzan shrugged.

"We're having Blues and Search Man train before coming over: we want to be fresh and receptive for tomorrow." Laika admitted in a calm and dull tone of voice.

"Alright, everyone! Lunch is almost ready so get to your assigned seats right away!" Yaito's father called out by using a wireless microphone and signaling the tables.

The Hikari family members sat in one table along with Meiru and her parents while Dekao and his parents shared another with Meijin, Kanou Shade and Vadous: Yaito sat on the honor table with her parents while the others organized in groups of seven.

"Well! I know these past days have been awfully occupied by somewhat bad pieces of news but that's not a reason to falter! When we stand united nothing can boycott our good time! Right?" Yaito picked the microphone and rallied the audience.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Yaito smiled.

"So today we've gathered to celebrate another Christmas Day and to reinforce the bonds between us all! Bonds are sweet, nice and grant us satisfaction so it's important to protect them!" Yaito continued as he side-glanced at Netto.

Netto blinked her one eye as if understanding the non-spoken message addressed to him and Yaito continued.

"Well then! I hope you all enjoy this meal we've prepared with a lot of tenderness and care! And I want to welcome the newcomers too: you're now officially part of the Akihara City Friendship Club! _Bon appétit_, everyone!"

There was a general round of clapping as Yaito made a little courteous bow to the guests and then snapped her left hand's index and middle fingers to make a banner with the title "Akihara City Friendship Club: We Protect Friendship" fall down from the ceiling.

"And this is our official motto! Well! I think there's nothing more to be said… Merry Christmas, everyone!"

"Merry Christmas!"

Another round of clapping rang out and both of the twins smiled…


	37. Chapter 37: Of servers and battles

**Chapter 37: Of servers and struggles**

11:11 AM (Beijing Time), Sunday December the 26th…

"… Muwroh, wroh, wroh."

"Damn! What a monster!"

"There's no halting it?"

"Someone help us!"

"Wroh, wroh, wroh."

"I've got the feeling it's laughing at us."

"Oh lovely."

Five to ten security Navis were facing Gothmog as it slowly walked towards a firewall they were protecting which had Chinese characters printed on it: Gothmog let them shoot at him but all rounds bounced off and he laughed at them while signaling with them with the right hand's middle finger as if indicating he was above them (literally) and looking down on them (also literally) to the annoyance of the defenders.

"You beast come out of the _Naraku_… Face me."

"Nyah, hah, hah! Time to settle the score you bastard! Festival! Bloody festival!"

"Wrorgh?"

Gothmog slowly turned around and seemed to recognize both Shadow Man and Killer Man: it drew the sword and aimed it at them while emitting the hollow chuckle sound.

"Go!"

Shadow Man formed his "Shadow Clones" and they attacked the knees of Gothmog while Killer Man jumped into the air behind it and then dived for the head: Gothmog hit the ground with the blade and opened the crevices of magma from which he began to form the cyclone: the winds pushed Killer Man away.

"Nuwra~h! Damn it! Killer Death Beam!"

"Shadow Blade!"

Both Navis attacked: Killer Man aimed for the head while Shadow Man focused on attacking the knees yet Morgoroth only made the cyclone spiral closer to its body and it eventually hit both Navis thus setting them on fire: two _Kawarimi_ were left behind as they warped and tried to shoot a string of _shuriken_ at the monster only to be melted by the flames and the strong gusts sending some back to hit their owners instead: they lowered the guard and the next moment Gothmog was beating its wings to propel them away and into the ground.

"Damn. The freak's gotten stronger." Killer Man cursed.

"Hmpf… But mere brute power won't overcome the _shinobi_ I am. Let's go for it! Oijouzan!"

"Let's go, Killer Man. Program Advance! Poison Seed, Poison Seed, Poison Anubis! Slot In! Poison Pharaoh!" Dark Kirisaki commanded.

The purple-colored Pharaoh Man statue descended into the field and the ground around Gothmog became "poison" thus making it lose HP yet it didn't seem to care as the cyclone hit the firewall and began to melt it down thus exposing a server inside of it: Cosmo Man showed up and hovered towards it while chuckling.

"This confidential data will be useful for business."

"Scope Gun! Satellite Ray!"

"Sonic Boom!"

"Huh! The damned mice are back…"

"You're the damned mice."

Blues and Search Man suddenly showed up atop the server and attacked Cosmo Man who barely dodged in time: he looked annoyed by now while the other two were calm and collected.

"Hmpf! Cosmo Gate!"

A black hole opened in the sky and began to launch meteors towards them but Search Man picked them out while Blues used the openings between them to warp and attack Cosmo Man who blocked using his "Cosmo Ring" so Blues had to recoil: Cosmo Man chuckled and suddenly increased the bombardment rate.

"Cosmo Planet!"

Three planetoids with vertical rings flew down from the sky and hit Search Man one after the other thus not giving him a break: Search Man growled and managed to regain his footing but at that moment Gothmog's fiery whip coiled around his legs and he was pulled away from atop the server while hitting Blues along the way as he struggled to get past the "Cosmo Ring" and didn't see him coming: both hit the floor as Gothmog retrieved the whip and then turned to face Killer Man and Shadow Man again who'd had time to recover.

"Alright, let us go again."

"Roger! Hell's Sickle!"

"Shadow Blade!"

Shadow Man warped and tried to hit the knuckles of the monster but he was punched away white the left hand caught the "Hell's Sickle" attack and absorbed its power: Gothmog chuckled and suddenly flew into the sky to then drop down: his landing caused a cyber-quake which threw everyone (save Cosmo Man, who was hovering in the air and Gothmog who was in the epicenter) off their feet and into the ground: Cosmo Man headed into the server taking profit that the cyber-quake had weakened the support points of its cover and quickly began to access its data while chuckling: the Navis managed to recover somehow but Cosmo Man didn't pay attention to them.

"You damned mice can't stop us. Go, Gothmog! Have them taste bitter despair!" He commanded.

"Muwro~rgh!" Gothmog roared.

"Crush them into dust!"

Gothmog advanced at quick strides towards Shadow Man and Killer Man while fusing his punches and lifting them: both jumped off the ground in time as Gothmog hit the ground and cracked it to form a pool of cyber-magma ten centimeters wide per five tall: Gothmog drew the whip in a blurry move and hit both Navis as they dived towards him: Blues and Search Man began to attack the base of the wings but Gothmog only had to beat them to push them away.

"Is that all? Hah." Cosmo Man taunted.

"I'd rather say "no", Golden Boy."

"Who…?"

"Yo! Goth – boy! Over 'ere! Remember me~?"

"Muwru~rgh!"

"Guess that means "yeah, I do", eh?"

Omega had suddenly shown up from atop one of the perimeter turrets of the server and was trying to catch Gothmog's attention which he did as evidenced by the twitch forming over Gothmog's right eye: the beast strode towards him at a quick pace while reading the right shoulder but Omega was already jumping into the air as Gothmog rammed into the turret and deformed it: the server flickered and hummed so Cosmo Man gasped.

"Stop, Gothmog! He's trying to use you to damage the power supply to the server and stop me from downloading further data! Don't hit the turrets: use the whip! That's an order!" He commanded in a rush upon realizing what was going.

Gothmog bowed and then drew the whip which it swung towards Omega as he landed on the SE turret but he merely bounced his feet off it before landing in the central turret and drawing the sword which he aimed downwards and stopped an inch away from entering Cosmo Man's head from above: Cosmo Man gasped and realized the jeopardy of his position as Gothmog was doubting whether it could hit Omega before Omega hit Cosmo Man.

"Come, bully."

Gothmog stepped back two steps as if wanting to be prudent but then got attacked at the same time by the recovered Blues, Search Man, Shadow Man and Killer Man: it apparently decided the other four should be taken out before Omega so it drew the sword and began to hit the floor with it so the four Navis began to jump around and provoke it while luring it away from the server.

"Alright, Golden Boy. What's in those labs?"

"Hmpf! The T – Virus, maybe?"

"Come on. I know Twilight isn't the type to repeat a trick twice: he already used that program a while ago."

"A new weapon, maybe." He taunted.

"I guessed as much: new weapons for the Balrogs."

"Correct, you damned mouse."

"I won't fall for that: I'm on a mission and I've gotta prove I deserve my rank by being cool-headed." Omega calmly replied.

"Hmpf! Not getting carried away, are you?"

"No. You've repaired the furnace already, I guess?"

"Of course. And soon it'll be ready to help us power up the new research facilities to develop new plasma weapons…" He grinned.

"Like we thought…"

"Muwroh, wroh, wroh!"

Omega gasped and spotted Gothmog coming back despite some wounds on its body: he could see a large hole some meters away which seemed to have swallowed the four Net Navis.

"Damn it. The bait strategy didn't work out…!"

"Heh. Cosmo Ring!"

"Whack!"

Omega got distracted so the "Cosmo Ring" hit him and made him fall down the server's turret and into the ground ten meters below: he hit it with a loud CRASH and groaned as he tried to recover: he was still gripping the saber on his right hand and managed to stand up somehow only to have to jump into the air and spin around to avoid being caught by Gothmog's whip: he quickly cut it to pieces and landed atop a power turret, the NW one, to taunt the thing but it merely hit the ground with the right punch to produce another cyber-quake and try to knock Omega from the turret.

"Damn it. This guy's getting smarter."

"Keep at it, Gothmog. I need another 90 seconds to finish downloading and translating that which interests us." He commanded.

"Come on, guys… You're not the type to be knocked out so easily! Gimme a hand…!" Omega muttered.

"No use! Those damned mice have sunk more than 30 meters and it's impossible to climb back up." Cosmo Man laughed.

"Then I'll bring reinforcements of my own…" Omega muttered to his own while jumping across to the SE turret.

"Super Vulcan!"

"Muwroh?"

"Another damned mouse came? Whatever. I only need 65 seconds by now to finish it up."

"Blood Shadow on the scene, sir!"

Blood Shadow appeared atop the SW turret and had shot a string of rounds to Gothmog to catch its attention: Gothmog roared and ran towards the turret: Blood Shadow grinned and signaled the ground to make it realize he'd turned it into an Ice Stage: Gothmog couldn't stop in time and hit the turret with all of his mass plus some speed: the server flickered and hummed again.

"Damn it. I got delayed. I need another 110 seconds because the transfer rate has fallen by 25%..." Cosmo Man growled.

"That thing's just like a big bull. I only needed to provoke it and it rushed straight to me: I'm not fond of _corridas_ but it's the best analogy I could think of… Anyway… Come, ugly bully!"

Omega grinned and returned to the central turret to keep Cosmo Man at bay with the sword while Blood Shadow taunted Gothmog to have it come over at the SE turret: Gothmog melted the ice and suddenly drew a flamethrower which it used to try to bathe Blood Shadow in flames from away so Blood Shadow leapt into the air to dodge: the heat did melt the upper cover of the turret and deform some of the ventilation outlets thus the server flickered and hummed again.

"Shit. I was at 68 seconds and I got delayed again to 128 seconds. Won't this thing EVER end? Gothmog! Ignore it and don't attack the turrets: use the wind!" Cosmo Man growled.

Omega quickly touched the soils of his boots to draw spikes like a mountain climber's boots and jumped into the air to then land and plunge the spikes a few millimeters into the thick cover as well as plunging his saber's tip there and gripping the hilt: Blood Shadow turned on a pair of jet boosters on the soils of his boots too while Gothmog attached the sword to the waist and began to beat its wings while flying skywards and try to fly towards Blood Shadow.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The blast hit Gothmog fully on the head and it clutched it as it struggled to concentrate and not lose flying capacity: it then beat the wings but Blood Shadow moved around to avoid its effects: Omega was securely anchored so he didn't feel the effects of it either.

"Good… Another 53 seconds… And I'll be done. Yet… Why aren't you directly stopping me when you've got the opportunity?"

"I want to see you sweat and struggle."

"Che. Damned mouse."

"My, my. What a tongue. Worm-tongue, anyone?"

"Shut up."

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Wruo~rgh…!"

CRASH!

"Oh damn. Another turret crushed! I was at 39 seconds and now I have to wait another 98 seconds…! This is endless!"

Blood Shadow had attacked the wings from behind thus robbing Gothmrog of the flying capacity and having it fall thus crushing the NW turret to Cosmo Man's growing exasperation.

"Only one backup power turret left and the main server…! And then they say redundancy is good…" He growled.

"You never know, Mr. Anderson. Agent Smith may be hunting you down for all we know." Omega hummed a tune.

"Stop screwing me~!" Cosmo Man roared.

He threw the "Cosmo Ring" at him but Omega sliced it in half and didn't look impressed: Gothmog recovered and stood up to try to hit Blood Shadow with the flamethrower while making sure to aim west the whole time to avoid an accidental hit on the remaining NE turret.

"Sonic Boom!"

"Satellite Ray!"

"Fire Spell!"

"Hell's Sickle!"

"I-Impossible!"

The four Net Navis were back and they looked totally healed: Gothmog growled and began to swing the flamethrower around like mad: Cosmo Man clutched his head and looked hysteric.

"Drive them away! AWAY!" He yelled.

Gothmog obeyed and quickly headed for the hole it had made a while before stopping on the edge and turning around to taunt the fighters into coming closer: they kept their distance so it resorted to the flamethrower again.

"Come on…! Come on…! 15 seconds…! I can do it…! I can do it…! I'll do it for sure this time…!" Cosmo Man growled.

"Try it, Mr. Anderson." Omega challenged.

"8 seconds… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2…!"

VRO~H!

"DAMN THEM! 62 seconds! It increased to 62 seconds!"

"My bad. Guess my shotgun is trigger-happy today."

Blood Shadow had used his shotgun to attack the remaining turret and Cosmo Man exploded into rage as the transfer time increased for the fifth consecutive time: Omega grinned and folded his arms while looking down (literally) on Cosmo Man.

"_No pain no gain_!" He taunted.

"Damned mice! Cosmo Buster!"

A distortion of space formed and several small planetoids flew out to bombard the opponents: Omega merely shot them with the gun while Blood Shadow drew a red indented blade and cut through them: Gothmog was having trouble hitting the Navis as two distracted it and another two attacked.

"Yes! This time it's the end…! 31 seconds…!"

"The 31 lanes of doom?" Omega laughed.

"Sir Omega, sir. You've made that up on the spot, sir." Blood Shadow protested with obvious dryness.

"Did ya say something, B-B-B-Brad S-S-S-Shad?"

"I give it up, sir."

"15 seconds…! 14… 13… 12… 11… 10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Transfer completed! At last! At last! A~h! AT LAST!" He eagerly exclaimed while spreading his arms wide.

Omega blinked Blood Shadow and eye and he merely nodded in understanding: Cosmo Man then flew upwards and formed a smug smile as he glanced upon them.

"I've got no further business here. Gothmog! Pull back. Our mission is a success! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Muwro~h! Wroh, wroh, wroh!"

The purple swirling "black hole" opened in the sky right above Gothmog who crouched and jumped inside followed by Cosmo Man: the thing closed and the four Navis sighed in relief.

"Phew. There they go… What a monster!" Enzan muttered.

"But our strategy worked."

"Strategy?" Dark Kirisaki frowned.

"What are you talking about?" Dark Miyabi asked.

"I'll tell you later." Barrel interjected.

"If you came up with it then it surely is worth it. Barrel."

"It is. But I won't speak over an unprotected line. Pull back. Thanks for the helping hand, Omega and Blood Shadow."

"Don't mind it, Barrel. I was trigger-happy today along with Brad Shad over here. He looks up to Lucky Lucy." Omega laughed as he patted Blood Shadow's back.

"Lucky _Luke_, sir! Please don't corrupt names, sir!"

The other four Navis left and Omega grinned at Blood Shadow who merely remained silent: Omega quickly clutched his private spot before logging out and Blood Shadow growled something under his breath…


	38. Chapter 38: Enzan's quest

**Chapter 38: Enzan's quest**

14:44 PM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 26th…

"… Ugh… My head aches… What happened to me?"

"Welcome to Despair, Ijuuin Enzan."

"Twilight?"

"Indeed."

"What the fuck is this setup?"

"Don't you remember? PTS."

"PTS?"

"_Pulse Transmission System_."

"What the fuck."

Enzan had woken up only to discover that he'd been strapped into a "Pulse Transmission System" machine and Twilight's voice ringing out from a speaker somewhere out of sight: the room had a familiar vibe to it even.

"Welcome back to the WWW's island HQ… Don't you remember? Dr. Cossack used this system to unlock the elevator behind you yet he had a sad encounter with "Original" Forte…" He told him.

"And you want to repeat that?"

"More or less. I'm trying to come up with something new: a human's avatar in the Cyber World using Navi abilities on their own sans the need of having to enter "Full Synchro" with their Navis… Of course that the looks would be different to tell each other away but the abilities and powers would be pretty similar… This could be a system useful to me but I'm not as idiotic as to risk it myself so I thought you'd do some nice guinea-pig, Ijuuin Enzan. Find your Net Navi deeper in this network and then you'll be able to come out. And I'm not physically here so trying to find me is a waste of time and energies."

"Fuck you."

"You've got no other choice, see. I could easily use that thing as an electrical chair but where would the point be on that? No. You'll be dependent on your stubbornness and instinct to survive. So, ready or not, let the show start!" Twilight laughed.

The machine hummed and next thing he knew he was inside of the Cyber World and feeling very real there indeed: he did feel like he was wearing some kind of armor over his body and a Long Sword colored red was extending from his right forearm: Enzan looked at his hands and then touched around his body: his vision was somewhat dimmed and he realized he had bluish shades over his eyes plus some kind of mask over his nose and face the shape of which was very reminiscent of that of Blues' own.

"I'll avenge Sunayama~!" Desert Man roared as he suddenly came out from beneath the ground.

"Maybe I forgot to add you'll be fighting for your life too? Heh, heh, heh, heh… _No pain no gain_! Ijuuin Enzan!" Twilight taunted.

"Fuck you, Twilight. Eh… Area Steal! Neo Variable Sword!"

Enzan noticed how he was warped to another spot behind Desert Man and how the Neo Variable Sword formed on the right forearm: he attacked the top part of Desert Man's body from behind and inflicted a wound there.

"Neon Light!"

"Gwra~h!"

The attack caught him off-guard and he did feel the electricity travelling and attacking each inch of his body: he tried to endure it and turned around to see Flash Man laughing.

"Ever heard of "union makes force", stinking rat?"

"Hah! I'll avenge Cousin Bubble Man myself! Triple Drill!" A new voice joined the scene.

Something rammed into him from above and behind and made him fall into the ground: Drill Man showed his form as he violently tried to crush him by using the right foot.

"Not so fast, comrades. I want to make this interloper go through slow and bittersweet agony before driving them crazy. Plant Weed! Heh, heh, heh…" Plant Man chuckled as he came into the picture.

"Gruo~h… Plant Man! Don't get in the way." Desert Man grumbled as Plant Man walked into the picture.

"Who asked you for your caprices, savage?"

"Wha~t?"

"Desert Man. Cooperate or be deleted. You choose." Twilight icily commanded from somewhere.

"Uo~h! I cooperate, Lord Twilight!"

"_Darth_ Twilight would be a preferable way to address me too."

"Damn them all. Area Steal!"

Enzan managed to escape the tight spot and ran past two large bulk doors which he quickly pushed closed: a laser field colored blood red formed in front of them but he didn't stop to regard at them as he was now facing a legion of SP Viruses.

"Fuck. How did I end up at this spot anyway? Last thing I remember is coming back to the office after fighting that Gothmog monster freak and having a cup of water from the water fountain… Why didn't anyone notice my absence yet?" He grumbled.

"That Barrel hound guy has obviously noticed it… But there's no big mystery, really. I just put on my janitor's clothes and brought new canteens for the water fountains yet yours had some slight doses of sleeping drug dissolved into it… My little trick with the warp-portals did the rest…" Twilight laughed.

"Damn it. When will you fight us for real?"

"When my new weaponry is completed and the world can be "glassed" just like in the _Halo_ games…" He laughed.

"Glassed?" Enzan frowned under the transparent blue shades.

"Using a beam of concentrated plasma to actually melt the crust of a planet and finally turn it into a plasma-scarred world incapable of supporting life…" He sounded eager.

"What the hell!"

"But that's sci-fi. It's impossible to create something like that, alas, because it'd be the perfect deterrent."

"This guy's crazy!" He grumbled.

"I wonder that myself." He ironically replied.

"Damn. Does this base's Cyber World never end?" Enzan cursed as he looked around.

"It ends at the end of Time Eternal." Twilight laughed.

Enzan stopped when he spotted a puddle of water where he was able to look at his reflection.

His "bodysuit" design was not radically different from Blues' one yet it had some aesthetic changes there and there.

His helmet design was almost identical to Blues' but his shades were more transparent than Blues' own: the silver hair came out from behind the helmet and reached all the way to the ground.

He had red armor over his upper torso and shoulders while his main bodysuit color was a mild blue color with tints of grey to it.

His chest emblem was set on the middle of the armor and two white patterns climbing up towards the edges of the shoulders were there.

His arms' skin coloring was divided in two: the upper half was colored in a gray/blackish color while the lower half was tinted mild blue: red armor formed over his forearms plus one small wing formation over the wrist. The armor around the wrist had two round white bands reinforcing it plus a piece of bodysuit over the hand's palm which had his emblem drawn into it, too.

The rest of his bodysuit until the hips was colored in that combination of mild blue and grayish/blackish color running down the sides of it: there was a red triangle drawn over each hip before his boots began at a slightly lower spot:.

An amber-colored diamond surrounded by black edges was built over the knees plus two extra white bands of armor around the knees themselves: the front edge of the boots was colored white and it had a golden rim marking the border between both colors.

"So that's what you meant, huh."

"Puku! Rock Man's accomplice, puku! I'll defeat ya and Shade Man – sama will praise me! Puku!"

"What? Bubble Man?"

"Puku! I know you deleted me before, puku. That remake ain't gonna fool me, puku!"

Bubble Man suddenly showed up from behind while aiming his harpoon pistol at Enzan and having a confident smug smile across his face: Enzan didn't seem to be surprised at all.

"Get lost." He merely scoffed.

"What? Fight like a man! Puku!" Bubble Man got a twitch over the right eye and began to wave his arms around in a comical manner.

Enzan whipped around in a blur and kicked him in the nose thus breaking it and then quickly yanked his short neck before throwing him down a flight of stairs he'd just climbed: Bubble Man yelled but Enzan wasted no time in keeping on forward.

"I gotta hurry: that laser field ain't gonna keep those guys busy. Wait a min… I'm missing someone, right?" He frowned under the shades and seemed to recall something.

"Yeah! The great me! Chaos Flame!"

"Fuck. Flame Man!"

Enzan dodged Flame Man's attacks and ran away while Flame Man rushed after him: Enzan spotted a waterfall right ahead of him and crossed through it while Flame Man stopped right in front of it: he cursed and ran towards the right while Enzan kept on forward by slicing Viruses and climbing up another flight of stairs: he reached a new area and found what seemed to be the rotten "corpse" of "Proto" in the form it'd displayed over a year ago: Enzan ignored it.

"You think you can fool me with some decorating tricks? Proto is long deleted and gone: nothing was left of the monster-like form. Now go to Hell." He scoffed.

"I'd do so yet I can't seem to find the entrance to it."

"This guy is nuts, really."

"Hah! Did you really think that door would keep us busy? Now you die as a fool!" Drill Man laughed as he came out of a hole drilled into the ground.

"Damned. A tunnel." He realized.

"Yeah! I'm named "Drill" Man for something!" He boasted.

"Hmpf. Ah. Finally. You came, "Copy" Forte."

"COPY FORTE? WHERE?"

They began to look around but then they realized Enzan had slipped past them and had locked another set of doorways: the ground was now replaced by very narrow walkways suspended over a grid of "Dark Panels" filled with "guardians" just like in the "Liberation Missions" and these walkways were only wide enough for one person to cross over: he did spot a cubicle made of smooth black walls at the end of the room in the middle of a circular platform.

"That's gotta be it. Let's be careful: I wouldn't be surprised if those things tried to jump for me or impede my progress…"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'll praise you, Holmes."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Go, Roy Hawk!"

"Damn. I knew it!"

Enzan jumped forward to dodge a "Roy Hawk" which rammed into the support pillar for a segment of the catwalks and then used its talons to rip segments of the roads off along with others: the swordsmen and the beasts began to attack the support pillars too and Enzan had to run and jump until he reached the central circular platform which was suspended from the ceiling by several chains: he jumped atop the cube and noticed a button titled "EMERGENCY OPENING" which he promptly pressed: the cube vanished altogether and revealed Blues.

"Blues!"

"E-Enzan – sama, sir?"

"Explanations later! Come! We must get out of this place before we're overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers!" He commanded.

"Roger, sir!"

They both ran forward along a wider catwalk and reached a set of double doors which they crossed and locked behind them: they then found a large hollow sphere hovering in the middle of a circular room with three levels of circular catwalks interconnected by stairs: the sphere was quickly shifting colors yet it kept on looking hollow: Enzan spotted a locked hatch on the ground level beneath the sphere but there was little to no space to maneuver towards the center of it where the lock system was set at so Enzan looked at the sphere again.

"What do you make out of that, Blues?"

"I can't feel anything from it: the surface seems to bounce off any type of radiation and "noise" thus creating a "noise-free" environment like a room the walls of which are designed to absorb the noise and make it safe to have a conversation without being overheard."

"In short: something is inside of that sphere and we gotta find a way to destroy or disable it before progressing on forward."

"Roger, sir."

They jumped towards the sphere and "crossed" it to enter a new Cyber World altogether which seemed to be decorated to look like outer space even: they spotted a set of stairs leading to a platform where a throne had been set at which was empty yet it had some kind of control panel built on the right armrest.

"Blues. Cover me."

"Roger, sir."

Enzan slowly climbed upwards and when he was one step ahead from the throne there was the sound of the wind making something flutter and Enzan spotted a silver-colored curtain flickering in front of him plus a figure occupying the throne.

"Optical illusion…?" He wondered.

He decided to come inside and gasped because the figure turned out to be Ijuuin Shuuseki: his stare was as cold as ever and he kept on sporting his usual dress: he didn't seem surprised at all.

"F-father, sir?"

"Son. You've done well." He merely replied yet his voice was devoid of any sense of pride or recognition.

"Do excuse me, sir, but…"

"It'd seem your half-brother has been testing you out." He dully commented as if he was bored.

"H-half brother, sir? You don't mean Twilight, right, sir?" Enzan gasped in surprise.

"I do mean him."

"B-but that is not possible, sir." Enzan politely protested.

"Who said it was impossible?"

Enzan stopped there and gulped: he seemed to be confused and Shuuseki's stony face did not help in the least.

"_Chichi-ue-sama_." Twilight's voice rang out.

"Yami. My other son. I've seen your career and you have impressed me as to how you could control everything with such cold blood and fooling those men to the end. It was necessary to expose them out because they could have been an obstacle to some of IPC's businesses."

"I am proud of it, sir. Her Grace has taught me well."

"Indeed. You have been fortunate to have been picked by her: such intelligence must be shared and strengthened. One day you will be my successor." Shuuseki confirmed.

"Father, sir… I apologize for interrupting, but could you not allow for me and Blues to leave? Any further second we stay here is dangerous: there are some who want us dead. What good will I do to IPC dead? Or were you planning to replace me with that man, sir?"

"No. Your VP post won't be affected. But you'll be in that rank as long as he lives. I've signed all legal documents: my lawyers will show them to you if you still think this is an illusion."

Shuuseki pressed the button and a mechanical sound rang out: Enzan sighed in relief but didn't dare to move until Shuuseki silently signaled the exit with his right hand's middle finger: Enzan ran out and Blues followed him out of the bubble which had hovered higher in the air to allow access to the opened hatch.

"What happened there, sir? The curtain was too thick to allow me to see or hear and I couldn't get past it, sir."

"I'm not sure if Twilight is very good at illusions or if I've been deceived by my father for years. I can settle that once I'm back in the real world: there must be a way back to the room where my real body is at, strapped into that PTS machine…"

"Roger, sir."

"Ah. A direct drop there… Good. Follow me!"

"Acknowledged."

They dropped down into the room and Enzan stepped into a virtual replica of the chair after crossing a bubble-shaped field: he sat down there and his "avatar" vanished while Blues spotted a Warp Point which he used as well.

"Uh-unh… Huh? Back here… Phew!"

Enzan blinked several times and found that he was back in the real world and that the restrains had unlocked: he wasted on time in jumping off the machine and spotted Blues inside of the PET.

"Let's go, Blues. Call for a helicopter or a boat: the sooner I get outta here the better. I'll have to go through debriefing by Mr. Barrel but that's the least of my current worries. This place is about to drive me mad at this rate." He muttered.

"Eh… Roger, sir…"

Enzan rushed out as the doors unlocked before he touched them and he finally came outside: the WWW base building was still pretty much ruined and the environment hadn't changed much: he did spot a familiar-looking boat parked there though.

"The boat we used back then…? Anyway! I'm off to the mainland before I go crazy." He muttered.

He jumped aboard and aimed his PET at the control panel before turning it on at max speed and speeding away from the island: he sat on the ground of the cabin and brought both hands to his head.

_Is Twilight trying to drive me crazy or Father has been tricking me for a lot of years? While it's not impossible it seems too fantastic… Yet sometimes truth beats fiction too. Oh hell. I'm not sure what to believe anymore: I need to speak with Father's lawyers and see if it's true… I'm so gonna crazy, I swear! What's going on around me?_


	39. Chapter 39: Research

**Chapter 39: Research**

07:33 AM (Norway Time), Sunday December the 26th…

"… So those are the research institutes… Which one should I pick in the first place, My Master?"

"Hmmm… Try the right-wing one…"

"Roger, My Master."

"Besides: they're not tall enough to house a "Balrog" so with some luck we won't have to battle one of those…"

"Acknowledged…"

Shadow Man was overlooking the research facilities adjacent to the Angband main heat ventilation shaft through a pair of binoculars and checking with Dark Miyabi to see the best course of action.

"Strategy: start…"

Shadow Man quickly jumped into the ground level and headed for the fence: he quickly examined one section of it and then drew his _katana_ to test it: the _katana_ passed through the "laser" with no effect being made which had Shadow Man frown: he touched the "laser" but again it didn't seem to exist.

"My Master. This is odd. These fences are not real: the lasers are just holograms. Are they inviting us in?"

"Could be… Omega talked too much when facing Cosmo Man in Choina so maybe they decided to lay out the red carpet and invite us in expecting us to fall into a trap…" Dark Miyabi agreed on it.

"Fine then. Let's go through the unexpected route."

"Agreed."

Shadow Man pulled back and then drew a long cord with a hook at the end of it which he threw over the fence and it got latched to the rear edge of the targeted building's rooftop: Shadow Man used it to climb.

"First phase successful… Entering second phase…"

"Good."

Shadow Man opened an air duct cover and snuck inside while closing it behind him: he crawled through it and spotted a cover on the ground allowing viewing of a room filled with purple-colored waters and some cylinders inside of it lowered there by a set of mobile cranes which could move across the ceiling thanks to a grid of rails set there: there were several of them submerged and others emptied: the insides contained just a central column which apparently served as place into which to lean but the markings on the ground signaled that four human-sized Net Navis could be stored inside: some Killer Eye Viruses hovered around the room while acting like surveillance cameras.

"I think Cosmo Man either lied or the plasma research is being conducted in another building… This reeks of "Dark Power", My Master."

"So it'd seem. The devil's own brand of canned juice…" Dark Miyabi muttered with some sarcasm.

"And it's not too hard to image what they do here: they strengthen Net Navis with "Dark Power" to make them stronger…"

"Obviously… Ignore that room and try to see if this building holds any data regarding the exact number of test subjects… I wouldn't be surprised if some Navi disappearances in the neighboring countries have been caused by these guys as well."

Shadow Man nodded and crawled into another room full of servers: he spotted Cosmo Man doing something with one and punching the wall with the right fist from time to time as if annoyed.

"Damn it! All that effort I went through and it turns out to be a mere financial newspaper's whole database? They swapped the data knowing we'd strike them and their struggle and all was part of it to make it believable…! Damn it!" He hissed.

"So that's the strategy Omega came up with… And they didn't tell us to make it believable… Intriguing." Shadow Man muttered.

"Fuck! I'm off. I've got duties elsewhere."

Cosmo Man stormed off the room by slamming the door shut on his way out so Shadow Man came out of the duct and made sure to lock it up from the inside: he then checked the server Cosmo Man had been using and which he'd luckily forgot to log out from.

"How fortunate. It'll save us some trouble."

"Indeed. Try to go by tag-search… "Dark Power", "experiments", "subjects", "results"…" Dark Miyabi suggested.

"Here, My Master… Current number of "specimens"… 85! "Progress in infusing "Dark Power" directly into core to then make it work like a human heart and pump it across the body is being made… We'll soon be able to allow the Navis infused with this power to output it in different forms which can generate "Dark Panels" to regenerate HP plus allow them to duplicate abilities of other Navis…" … Well. No big deal…"

"Of course not… But if some of them get loose and start generating "Dark Panels" we'll have to go through the "Liberation Missions" again and those are an eyesore." Dark Miyabi grumbled.

"Hmmm? Wait, My Master… There are some files titled "Coin" here which seem to be about another project… And some words seem to have been altered by some kind of filtering program like the profanity filters in some forums…" Shadow Man spotted.

"Coin? Hmmm… More fake bills like the ones McEdelson had on him when he was murdered, maybe…?"

"Ah. Indeed… It seems to be the case yet… No, no… It's a red herring, My Master… It says something about "gathering of coins, pit coins against bank notes and see who wins"… Pit coins against bank notes… Bank notes have more values… Lower VS higher…? Again I fail to see the point. I'm sure there's one but these guys are good at hiding the needed info. There's another note here… "Let's be ironic and make Mr. Obvious the first one to have one prototype implemented… Mr. Obvious' spin-off will prove to be a daring foe, I daresay." … Nothing else…"

"Hmmm… I doubt it being Rock Man but they could be attempting to recreate what happened to Colonel in March… Twilight did say Barrel was a considerable foe to him so he may be aiming to drive him into a corner regarding his dilemma over Colonel's sacrifice…"

"It could be, true enough… There's data about the development of something called "New-gen Avatars" and mentioning "Mr. Guinea – pig" and some "trial and error" carried out just a while ago in "great-grandfather's shut up and decayed manor"… Hmpf… This "great-grandfather" must've had dumb luck with the businesses…"

"Dark Miyabi? Reply: where are you? Me, Barrel…"

"A safe place… What's happened?"

"Ijuuin Enzan returned."

"Something happened…?"

"Twilight abducted him and had him go through some curious experiment which seems to be a vast improvement over the Pulse Transmission System used in the WWW's island base… Humans no longer require "Full Synchro" with their Net Navis and can get their own "avatar" which essentially is a Navi's bodysuit with some edits… The human and Navi can fight together but the same dangers of before apply…" Barrel explained in a hushed tone of voice.

"Hmmm… Then this file about "New-gen Avatars" meant this… Is there anything else we should know, Barrel?"

"The WWW Navis from the "Proto" time are back including Bubble Man who keeps on saying silly things because Twilight wants to try to make us feel a headache plus having him being Shade Man's scout."

"No big deal either… Can you think of someone apart from Rock Man or Blues who could be "Mr. Obvious", anyway?"

"No, not really… Omega, maybe?"

"I don't think so… He wouldn't be able to recreate his abilities and such so easily… Maybe the name's a red herring too…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was… Maybe they mean one Navi of the "Team of Colonel" and want to do what was in Nebula Hole Area 6, those "DS" copies… Django dropped by to tell me that area is still deserted and there's nothing weird there save the Viruses and one Battle Chip merchant who'll sell extremely rare Chips…" Barrel muttered.

"I see. Well. That's somewhat relieving."

"Wait a minute… I've found some imagery of the test-room and one capsule has just opened… It only had one occupant… A new message has come in! "Mr. Obvious' doppelganger is on the move: it'll be a good baptism of fire like in the good old times"… If Twilight wrote this then he sure has sarcasm." Shadow Man read.

CLANG!

"Damn. Someone's coming… Let's get out, My Master."

"Yeah. But we'll be back…"

Shadow Man leapt back into the duct and closed the cover while something banged the door from the outside: Shadow Man quickly crawled back into the rooftop and jumped over the fence to land on the ground and rush into the cover of a warehouse building: he looked out but there didn't seem to be any hunt going on: no alarms could be heard and the patrols hadn't altered their courses.

"Hum. Maybe it's a lone wolf… But we don't want to wait to see who they are so we're heading back…"

"Plug Out."

Shadow Man left the area just as a "figure" surrounded by a purplish glow ran into the spot and looked around in a hasty manner before grumbling under its breath and turning tail: yet the Navi of Kanou Shade had been looking at the scene from the cover of some piled construction beams and obviously knew what was going on.

"So that's how it is." Kanou Shade muttered.

He grumbled under his breath…

16:51 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Man. This is driving me crazy. Not only do those documents exist they were signed _three years ago_! And Father has kept those two lawyers as his personal lawyers for over fifteen years too…! They know about him as "Yoru Yami" too but they don't know who his mother is although Father did admit he was his son…! It's driving me crazy!"

"… Yet, Enzan – sama, sir… Your father… How old is he?"

"Huh? Well! Close to his 50s… Wait a min. That'd meant Father was around 25 when Twilight was born…? So maybe he then had to do some legal trick to keep it hush-hush because it was an illegitimate son…? This would make sense!"

Enzan returned to his office while looking rather shocked and perplexed while Blues was trying to see if there was a weak point somewhere in the whole affair: Enzan sat on the chair and unsealed a vending machine water bottle: he drank a bit from it and sighed in relief before booting up his PC and typing something into it.

"But I can't seem to find any family titled "Yoru"… Maybe he changed his name because it'd rhyme with his first name and to protect his family from scandal…?" Enzan thought aloud.

"It would make sense, too, sir."

"Let's try asking Kanou Shade if he thinks it's possible. He's a man of secret so he'll most likely look it up secretly."

"Roger."

"Ah. Mr. Ijuuin. I just finished telling Mr. Barrel about a little headache Cousin Twilight came up with…" Kanou Shade appeared on-screen after the call got patched.

"Mr. Shade. I've got a question about Twilight which I'd like you to try to think about… For all intents and purposes it looks real yet and there's evidence saying it's true yet…"

"Do ask."

"Could he possibly be an illegitimate son of my father when he was younger?"

"What! Impossible. Beyond all doubt." He suddenly uttered without apparently thinking it too much.

"How can you be so sure? We barely know anything about his background apart from his records…" Enzan frowned.

"Huh! Because he's… Eh… Well. I can't believe it because it sounds so… _clichéd_! No… What evidence says the contrary?"

"My father's own account, his lawyers and some documents he deposited there _three years ago_." Enzan listed.

"By all the… There's some trick involved unless he approached Ijuuin Sr. during that time and he decided to come up with that story which could be useful… Maybe he was thinking of using IPC's resources yet he ended up setting up his own store…" He muttered.

"Ah! Then it could be a two-way-deal too… Hum… Yeah. It surely was something along those lines… A rival to try to draw the best of me out and try to make me turn the back to others and live obsessed with trying to overcome him… It's very like Father's style…" Enzan gasped.

"Then it's settled. That's how it is, Mr. Ijuuin."

"And Father admitted the 8 Admin guys were picked because they could've been a bother to IPC's businesses in the future. But I wouldn't be surprised if Father didn't go to Admin 5's place _incognito_ once or twice because he looks so much like the type to do that."

"It's a possibility which we can't discard."

"Ain't that right, Poirot?" A sarcastic voice cut in.

"Che. Cousin Twilight." Kanou Shade grumbled.

"So, _kyoudai_ Kanou… You've told them what my little ace-in-the-hole is about or you want it to drop by there and say hi instead?"

"That's an ace-in-the-hole? It looks so lame, really."

"What… Another upgrade to Gothmog?"

"No. _Shadow Man DS_. Automated killer Navi with no emotions and no personality which will stop at nothing to hunt its prey… And strengthened by "Dark Power" too…" Kanou Shade grumbled.

"Hum. I see."

"And it'd seem what happened to Mr. Ijuuin was the first test of the system which he surely intends to use for something else."

"Bravo, Lestrade. You deserve a promotion. Yet why did you go to Dartmoor carrying an unsigned detention order concerning our fellow Stapleton, anyway? Holmes sure did laugh at you." Twilight taunted over the hijacked line.

"Don't ask me, know-it-all."

"My. So now I'm a walking Wikipedia? What does my _otouto_ think of this, anyway?" Twilight grinned.

"That you and Father are trying to spur up a dramatic tale but that you've got no blood relation to me whatsoever and he picked you because he saw you more fitting to succeed him over me." Enzan grumbled.

"Bravo, Watson. Your reputation is no bluff, then. Alright. No more little games. Ijuuin Sr. did see my marks and approached me three years ago yet he told me to complete my training and then gave me the resources to start my "T Syndicate" and gather those eight fools which he personally despised given some complicated enterprise meeting supper where they tried to bad-mouth him and such things were against honor so he sought to discredit them. And so I have done." Twilight admitted.

"Tee, heh, heh. That's right… I signed the "OK" with Mr. Ijuuin back then as well… Right, Marco?" Anaya butted in.

"Indeed, Your Grace."

"Anaya. This is between me and this jerk. Go gather sandalwood and patent the "Evil Perfume" already. Maybe you'll be lucky and get a review in fragantica dot com…"

"Evil Perfume, eh, kid? Why not. It sounds appropriate. And I'll decide the ingredients myself… Come, Marco. We gotta start researching on the best ingredients… Tee, heh, heh."

"… Your Will."

"Alright! _Kyoudai_! Kanou! Did you have a slip of your tongue?" Twilight challenged with obvious sarcasm.

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about." Kanou Shade looked annoyed.

"If not then it's fine. We don't want to ruin the surprise, do we?" He laughed next.

"What surprise? And don't talk to me like I was in the same ship as you because I am not." Kanou Shade protested.

"Of course not. Yet you know… You _must_ know. You've known that for a LONG time…" He teased.

"Leave us alone and don't butt in people's private conservations, Cousin Twilight! Did you not get taught that…?"

"…butting into other persons' conversations is rude? Yeah I know. But you did spy on the "Team of Colonel" back in March, didn't you?" He finished before countering.

"It was a test for the micro-robot and I stopped doing that once Mr. Barrel noticed me. And I did end up helping them heal Colonel back to normal on the day before the final battle too!" He protested.

"True, true. I saw it, I sure did. By the way! I found some intriguing parallelisms!" Twilight suddenly brought up while sneering.

"Parallelisms… In what?" Kanou Shade questioned.

"In the "Team" members… "Alternate Team"! Magnet Man, a helicopter-humanoid Navi named Gyro Man who can morph into a small flying chopper, Tomahawk Man, Number Man and Toad Man… That'd been amusing, wouldn't it?" He chuckled.

"How the hell were you expecting Magnet Man and Tesla Magnets to help us out anyway?" Enzan questioned.

"Dunno. Maybe she was bored and wanted a thrill without knowing that you were ONBA… _Otouto_." He added the last word with obvious taunting intention.

"For the last fucking time! You bastard aren't my half-brother! You're a mere leech! Go – to – Hell!" Enzan cursed.

"Calm down, Mr. Ijuuin! Do not step into his trap: this man's voice is as powerful as Saruman's!" Kanou Shade quickly warned.

"I guess so too. Beware, Enzan – sama! That man is the enemy, sir! We can't fall for their traps, sir!" Blues warned too.

"You're right…! Kuh! I'll hold myself back."

"Heh, heh, heh. I see you have some trouble holding back your inner emotions, Ijuuin Enzan… You should get some training from Gym Leader Natsume, I guess. She's an "Esper Type" expert, after all. Or maybe you prefer the violent temper of Gym Leader Ibuki, the "Dragon Type" expert, instead? She'd do a good mistress, really." He chuckled.

"Oh come on. Don't come up with _Pocket Monsters_ again: you see too much _anime_."

"I'd rather say I'm a fan of _Pocket Monsters Special_. They have some intriguing ideas… Heh, heh, heh. Well. I'm off before they charge this call's cost on me. Stay healthy, _otouto – chan_!" He sneered at the end and they could imagine his smug smile.

"He's left and, as usual, I've been unable to trace him. I'll be going too, Mr. Ijuuin… We must be careful with that killing machine out there: we sould get rid of it at the first chance." Kanou Shade sighed.

Enzan merely nodded and switched off the PET's auto-phone application before leaning back on his chair and drinking some water.

_Oh how lovely! Twilight will claim the post of President and I'll be stuck as VP forever. Can things get worse, even?_


	40. Chapter 40: Challenge

**Chapter 40: Challenge**

09:39 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 27th…

"… Tee, heh, heh. He looks like he's despairing. There's no better view, right, Yaito – chan?"

"Yeah. But let's not be too rough on him either, Meiru – chan."

"Don't worry about that: everything is under check."

"Good, good!"

"Hmmfff!"

Meiru and Yaito were playing with Netto next to the indoor swimming pool of the Ayanokouji Mansion: Netto had been seated into a chair and they'd put that collar around his neck plus the rope extending until half across the upper body to then bound his arms and another two sets of ropes kept them glued: another set of ropes tied Netto to the back of the chair and another two sets kept his ankles tied to the frontal legs of the chair thus spreading his own legs wide open.

He only had his school swimming trunks on and his mouth had been clogged with the ball-gag thing: a pair of clothes pegs had been clipped into his nipples and now Yaito and Meiru were using a vibrator each to tease his nipples: Netto's hardened penis could be clearly spotted beneath the swimming trunks and he was arching backwards.

"Don't try to play victim, Netto. We know you like this." Meiru told him as she rubbed his lower jaw using her left hand's middle finger.

"Yeah! This is our way of getting alone nicely. And today there'll be no interruptions 'cause you gave the bloody PET to Saito – kun. Tee, heh, heh, heh, heh!" Yaito giggled.

"You need a break from time to time too or you'll be burnt out! What better way to feel in the mood than be in our company? Today we're going to try something new…" Meiru teased.

Netto seemed to gasp and looked nervous.

"Here, Yaito – chan. Handle the front: I'll tackle the rear. He needs something to get stimulated."

"Roger!"

Meiru put on the strap-on over her one-piece swimsuit and then headed behind Netto to pull the rear part of his swimming trunks down and expose his insides: she grinned and quickly stuffed the strap-on inside of him thus making him gasp yet Yaito was now using both toys to stimulate his balls: Netto tried to utter something but suddenly released forming a stain on his swimming trunks from the inside: Yaito giggled while Meiru licked his right ear from behind.

"Bad, bad. You weren't supposed to do that yet. But it doesn't matter since we'll make you release a lot of times today. You better brace yourself, Netto, because we're not letting go of you so easily to then go to Shirakami or Saito – kun. You're a high-demand boy, eh? Oh? How did I know those things? A girl's intuition, ya see." Meiru told him in a hushed tone while making a grin.

"True, true!" Yaito giggled.

Meiru began to pump in and out while toying with the clothes pegs attached to Netto's nipples while Yaito teased his balls again while hitting them with her right hand as if slapping them: Netto kept on moaning and protesting.

"No use protesting! You could've turned us down when we invited you here but you ended up coming because your pride wouldn't allow you to run away, Netto. And your body wished for someone to exploit its masochist nature too." She whispered to him.

"True, true!"

"Slap those things for another bit more: this guy won't have enough anytime soon so we can have some fun with him."

"Roger!

"Mmmmffff!"

10:04 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmmm…"

"Engrossed on it, _mon ami_?"

"Huh? Well. You could say so, mister, and…! By all the…! You!"

"Indeed."

"H-how did you know I was here?"

"I know everything: I'm a walking Wikipedia, Hastings."

"Hastings? Who's that?"

"Poirot's buddy: a pale imitator of Watson…"

"What do you want?"

"Show you this."

"What? A legal document…? E~H? IMPOSSIBLE~!"

"Not impossible at all, Hastings."

"T-this can't be true!"

"Alas, reality beats fiction from time to time, or so they say."

"By all the…!"

Saito had been reading a textbook about physics which obviously belonged to Netto while sitting in an outdoors stone bench next to a stone table used for picnics: someone sat in the bench opposite him and he firstly didn't notice who it was but after looking up discovered Twilight sporting a sailor's coat and a cap plus sunglasses over his janitor's clothes sitting there with a broad grin on his face: he showed him a document which made Saito's jaw hit the floor while he shrugged and didn't seem to find it too much of a hassle.

"No way! You can't be Enzan – kun's half-brother!"

"This document says otherwise, Hastings."

"Three years ago…! The signs of two lawyers, yours and Enzan – kun's father are here…! This is crazy!" He cursed.

"Indeed. But not as crazy as some fictions. Maybe Hamlet was out of his wits to begin with?" He chuckled.

"Oh come on. Get out."

"This is public space."

"Go away to your palace thing."

"Who said I lived in a palace?" He amusedly asked.

"I'm improving: just get out of my sight." Saito grumbled.

"So? Did you crack the challenge?" He questioned.

"No. Because I can't find the logic to it!" He shot back.

"You'll eventually do."

"So! Yoru Yami. There you are."

"Hmmm? Lezareno! I was forgetting about you, my fellow Doberman chaser!"

"Hah, hah. I laugh at that."

Chief Lezareno showed up behind Twilight who merely glanced over his right shoulder and greeted him with some sarcasm yet Lezareno merely let out some dry laughter to show that he wasn't impressed in the very least.

"Maybe this will make you think otherwise?"

"No need to. I've received the information from Kanou Shade. You're not a real half-brother: Ijuuin Sr. wrote you as such to avoid trouble when you'd get the President post in IPC."

"What! This guy is going to be the President of IPC?"

"Indeed. We've talked to those two lawyers and they have confirmed it without doubt: the deal was signed three years ago too."

"This is crazy! Then Enzan – kun's work is in vain because he'll never get past being the VP?" Saito gasped.

"Well, I wouldn't call it in vain yet the trouble will be trying to bring his persona to the max in an attempt to outshine Twilight and end up burnt out." Lezareno corrected.

"Bravo, Japp." Twilight made some sarcastic clapping.

"Hmpf."

"Did Mr. Wesker send his complains?" Twilight suddenly asked.

"Wesker? Who's that?" Chief Lezareno frowned.

"Oh, my, my. An intriguing fellow." He chuckled.

"An accomplice of yours?" He tried to guess.

"No, no. He's too prideful to team with anyone: he just uses people for his personal gain…" He grinned.

"Hmpf. So? What's your point?"

"Find that out yourself, Stapleton." He challenged.

"Don't associate me with the man behind the hound in the _Hound of Baskerville_…!" Lezareno formed a grimace.

"Maybe I should associate you with the Oosaka Tigers?" Twilight suggested next.

"Stop meddling around: what do you want?"

"Good question, Colonel Moran, good question. I was wondering that myself too." He calmly replied with a smile.

"Show-off?"

"You could name it like that yet I prefer "appropriate display of power" instead of such a vulgarized and vain word…" He made a dismissing gesture as if he though it wasn't anything important.

"Hmpf! So that's your game… Or the game of your masters?"

"Could be, could be… _Mon ami_."

"Stop playing Frenchman or Poirot or whatever it is. Get out of this place before I get annoyed." Chief Lezareno insisted.

"So? Why haven't you tried to catch me yet?" Twilight challenged.

"It's pointless: my PET's radar app tells me Black Doom is hidden just 15 meters NNW of here. He can cover that distance in less than 30 seconds as well and bail you out of here. I don't do pointless things just to have you get away with it with a smug smile across your face."

"Bravo, Lezareno. You're getting sharper."

"Hmpf! I wouldn't be in this post if I didn't know how to analyze the situation and know when it's wise to act and when not."

"Oh, really…"

Twilight picked back the paper which he stored inside of an envelope and then took out a small visiting card which he tossed at Saito: he instinctively caught it and looked at it, frowning.

"Donald Anderson, DARPA… DARPA? What's that?"

"Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, Ameroupe governmental agency…" Lezareno muttered.

Saito then turned it around and spotted the word "PTS" garbled there using a blood red pencil and looking like they'd been written in a rush given their somewhat blunt form.

"PTS? Another agency?"

"PTS? No, as far as I know…" Lezareno frowned.

"It's about to rain black dooms."

"What?"

Both looked upwards in an instinctive manner and Twilight suddenly got up and ran off while grinning: both grumbled and fumed at it yet they didn't attempt a chase.

"Don't give chase, Agents Umi and Raion. We're no match for that Net Navi right now and it'd be pointless." He commanded over a walkie-talkie he carried.

"Roger, sir."

"PTS, PTS… That name rings a bell somewhere… It could be a decisive hint or a further challenge to me… A personal challenge…"

"Do excuse me? Personal challenge…? Oh! I remember. He let you see his eyes and challenged you to solve the "challenge" behind them yet it'd seem you haven't yet…"

"Yeah. There are some spots picking on me but I'm not sure about how to address them. Regarding DARPA… What's their mission?"

"Ah. Well. They were established in 1958 as a response to the launch of _Sputnik 1_ by the Soviet Union… Basically they're there to prevent other nations from creating surprising technology which catches them unaware yet at the same time develop hi-tech which is to keep them ahead of their enemies and surprise them with these new technologies… I'll have to look it up yet it wouldn't surprise me if he got some contacts within DARPA and maybe cooperated with them in some technological aspect… Donald Anderson is a pretty common name but maybe by pulling some favors I can look it up… I was NRO in the past. National Reconnaissance Office, you see… One of the "big 5" intelligence agencies…"

"I see. Thank you for your help, sir, confronting that villain, sir… I can feel a tension quickly escalating towards boiling point, though, sir… I'm afraid we'll get into some real trouble before long, sir…" Saito apologized as he stood up and closed the text-book.

"No wonder, Mr. Hikari Saito. Do leave the surveillance to us, young man, and do be wary."

"Thank you very much, sir. I think I'll be heading home already: I feel like my morning got spoiled." Saito sighed in defeat.

"I too think like that. What a pity. It promised to be a not-so-cold morning for once…" Lezareno muttered.

10:44 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Locuelo Man will start the Locuelo War, Shirakami!"

"What the… That's ridiculous."

"It's brilliant."

"Yeah, yeah. Just take care of the customers, will you?"

"Copy" Forte tried to amused Shirakami with a lame joke but he wasn't impressed or amused in the least and signaled the door leading to the main store: "Copy" Forte grinned and headed over there while Shirakami continued on using the broom to remove the dust.

"Yo! Guys! Big news." He announced to the customers.

"What, what?" Three or four customers asked.

"The Crazy Man Tournament has begun!" He exclaimed.

"Crazy Man Tournament? A Net Battling Tournament?" The customers eagerly asked.

"Yessir. Sponsored by Higureya and the ONBA, see..." "Copy" Forte added with obvious amusement.

"FORTE! Don't lie to the customers, you moron!" Shirakami yelled while an annoyed expression formed over his face.

"Sorry, sorry. Troll time. Anyway. What did you want?" He sighed and adopted a business-like tone.

"Man. Well… These…" One customer sighed.

"5100Z…"

"Alright. Here's the cash…"

"Come back anytime, my fellow."

"Oi. You don't have any lighters?"

"Lighters? Why do you want those? You look like a 5th grader…"

"Don't get the wrong idea, bro! I just wanna use it to set fire to those stupid doodles in the corridor…"

"WHAT?" "Copy" Forte yelled.

"No big deal!"

"Now look here! Doodles or not the younger students have every right to expose their works! And that could set the whole school in fire! You guys: do you know his parents? Tell this to them!"

"Saizan! You _baka_! You act and then ask? You don't think of the consequences? That won't do, man!" Another customer exclaimed with obvious indignation.

"Oh come on. You know I'm a genius."

"THAT AIN'T BEING A GENIUS: THAT'S BEING A PYROMANIAC AND IT CAN BE PUNISHED BY LAW! YOU THINK YOU'RE ONLY BURNING PIECES OF PAPER BUT THEY HAVE THE FEELINGS OF THOSE WHO DREW THEM ENGRAVED INTO THEM! YOU BRAT!"

"Yikes!"

"Is there a problem?" An adult's voice asked.

"Ah! How perfect! See, Mr. Policeman! This young man here just confessed to attempt arson!"

"WHAT?"

"We're witnesses, sir!"

"You traitors!"

"That won't do, boy! We're going to talk with your parents VERY SERIOUSLY. Accompany me to the station or things will get uglier than they are."

"Damn it all!"

"… They've left. Man! What the heck was wrong with that guy? Guess he's the type who thinks he can get away with everything!"

"Surely…" Shirakami rolled his eyes.

"Hmmm? The email… "PTS"… No sender name…? PTS… P… T… S…? Now, why does that ring a bell somewhere?" "Copy" Forte wondered as he came into the back-store and checked his PET.

"It rings a bell too…" Shirakami admitted.

"Wait a minute, there's something else… "PTS + New-gen Avatar = Evolution!"… Huh? This sounds weird." He frowned.

"Yeah. I dunno how an avatar helps you evolve to begin with when it's just something immaterial." Shirakami shrugged his shoulders.

"Well then. Guess it's a prank…"

"It surely is. Go handle any other customers while I finish cleansing a bit over here. I don't want dust to get everywhere."

"Sure thing, _darling_!"

"Copy" Forte headed back to the main store while giggling while a twitch formed over Shirakami's right eye.

"That guy…!"

He fumed and finished cleansing so he stored the stuff on the closet and then headed back into his room where he sat in front of the PC and typed into it to then stop and spot something.

"… "Sometimes faces tell a lot more than words." … What? No sender address…? Huh? A photo… This guy is… That Vadous man, right? And this other… Twilight…? So Twilight sent me this? But why? Faces…? Study their faces…? Hmmm… Wait a minute…"

He brought up both profile photos side to side: Twilight was glancing backwards with a smug smile while Vadous was also looking backwards yet he displayed calm and maybe mistrust: Shirakami frowned and seemed to spot something in those photos.

_I feel like these photos are telling me something but it's escaping me altogether! What's the message hidden behind them…?_


	41. Chapter 41: Liberty Raid

**Chapter 41: Liberty Raid**

03:08 AM (Norway Time), Monday December the 27th…

"… Damn. This thing followed me here. How annoying."

"True… We need to try to find a way out of this mess."

"Any ideas, My Master?"

"Hmmm…"

"Huh! Take this, you freak! Stop chasing me to the world's end!"

"I've got a slight idea… This freak seems to act faster than you, doesn't it, Shadow Man? Then…"

"… Roger."

Shadow Man was having trouble facing his own "DS" version as they fought over a set of narrow catwalks crossing over a river of cyber magma which then became a waterfall (or, rather, a magma-fall) and swept downwards through the arch of a tunnel and until an unknown destination: the flow started from another tunnel's arch as well and the heat diffraction of light was clearly visible here.

"We were exploring these communications tunnels between this research complex and the main Angband fortress when this freak assaulted us and now I feel like we're re-enacting the _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith_ final deathly match…" Shadow Man grumbled.

"I get that vibe, too. But aim the _katana_ at your chest."

"… I see."

Shadow Man quickly did so but the copy acted faster and ended up plunging it through its own body without realizing: Shadow Man quickly jumped into the air and landed a kick on the fake's forehead which made them lose their balance and fall down into the magma to sink on it and then disappear from sight.

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh." An all-too-familiar chuckle suddenly rang out.

"By all the…"

Gothmog emerged from the magma behind Shadow Man and spread its arms and legs wide while drawing the fiery whip: Shadow Man quickly ran down the catwalks as Gothmog submerged and then began to attack by driving its sword upwards as if it was a needle and thus breaking some sections of the catwalks: Shadow Man quickly jumped over to the left but Gothmog's sword broke that segment of the catwalk and he barely clung into the rest of it: he warped by leaving a log behind and kept on running down the catwalks.

"Damn them. Ah! I see a civilized passage over there! We should retreat through it and see where we end up at."

"Roger."

Shadow Man leapt into the entrance of a passage climbing upwards through a concrete wall and spotted an emergency lever: he shattered the glass and pushed it down to engage a force field: Gothmog's sword made contact with it but it was repelled yet Shadow Man didn't stay to look at what the thing would do next as he was rushing up the stone steps of the stairway: he spotted another entrance with an emergency system and turned its force field on too: looking downwards he gasped upon seeing the sword of Gothmog flying up the passage: Shadow Man rushed it up and then reached a third arch which he turned on as well: the corridor stopped climbing and continued on ahead towards a shining light at the end of the tunnel: Shadow Man ran towards it and ended up in a tall vertical shaft extending both upwards and downwards with no visible ends either way and containing a "bubble" which was rather reminiscent of a billiards ball in the center of it hovering in the center of it: Shadow Man leapt towards it and "passed" through it.

"What?" He gasped.

He looked around and spotted the stairs climbing to the throne and the silver light-refracting curtain: intrigued, he climbed up the spots and went through the curtain.

"Welcome, _comrade_."

"You!"

"Indeed."

Twilight was sitting there while having a smug smile on his face and looking rather amused.

"Pulse Transmission System…?" Dark Miyabi guessed.

"Wrong."

"Wrong? Hologram, then?"

"Wrong as well."

"You think I'm an _amateur_ who doesn't know anything? Last time I checked you were in the real world and that makes you a human no matter what." Dark Miyabi grumbled.

"The same concept could be said of Rock Man yet he's a Net Navi, you know?" He shot back.

"It couldn't be." Dark Miyabi seemed to guess the answer.

"What _proof_ do you have that I am a human?"

"Well, Copy Roids didn't exist 6-7 years ago. And you did go to high school and a technology institute. You had to be a human because there witnesses of that."

"True. But Rock Man wasn't always a Net Navi either."

"Huh? Oh come on. Now you're going to tell me humans can choose to become Net Navis?" Dark Miyai skeptically asked.

"Not in Rock Man's case, certainly. His was what inspired me: in his case it was a desperate gamble, a risk it all gamble… A father who doesn't want to lose a son… Yet in my case I found a system… The Pulse Transmission System… And these new-Gen avatars… Those were the keys!" He smugly announced.

"By all the… _You were human but transformed into a Net Navi_?" Both of them gasped at the same time.

"Correct! Once my entry into the Cyber World was complete I disposed of my weak body which by then was but a shell and broke free from the limitations of human flesh! The evolution everyone sought is right here and I've begun it! Why do you think I haven't directly tried to liquidate or permanently destroy Rock Man? He inspired me! I'm thankful to him for giving me the idea which allowed me to come this far. And _I_ was the one who began Copy Roid research and then sold the patent to Cyber City to finance my activities!" He exclaimed as he stood up.

"I see… And that's how you could approach Black Doom and the "With – Queen of Angmar"… Yet you surely could take another appearance to look more like a Navi to them…" Shadow Man muttered.

"Yeah. And "Twilight" is, in fact, my Net Navi name. I still use "Yoru Yami" when dealing with humans…"

"But if you use a Copy Roid then why didn't Rock Man notice?"

"Good question, Monsieur Bouc. Well: I simply came up with better sound isolation for my Copy Roid and thus the other day when I brought him into my hideout he interpreted it as being distant and thinking it was Black Doom's own one in the process of recharging." He grinned.

"Monsieur Bouc? Who's that?" Dark Miyabi asked.

"A director of the _Compagnie Internationale des Wagons – Lits_… A buddy of Poirot, see, the couturier… Featured in _Murder in the Orient Express_, one of Poirot's most challenging cases…"

"Hum. I remember having heard of that tale but I don't know much about it… Anyway! How can that sword chase us?"

"Simple! I installed a CPU on it capable of accepting remote orders to a max range of 30 meters. But it won't come inside of my "world" because I told Gothmog so." He grinned.

"What are you hoping to achieve?"

"Good question. But don't compare me a to a "Bond villain" because I'm not as idiotic as them. I simply desire to see the old system prosper…"

"And that's why you bothered to rescue Anaya to begin with. But we're sure that this place isn't your HQ and the real-world building where the servers maintaining Angband is still under control of the Sweden ONBA yet they're unable to reach the servers or pull the plug on these because they're protected in a heavily armored door with a lot of backup systems there and there." Dark Miyabi grumbled.

"They'd neglected the place for so long and such they paid for one of the greater sins: laziness." He laughed.

"Boss? Me, Black Doom… Phoenix Slayer and I are in position and ready to start the party…" Black Doom called out through the radio.

"Excellent. Wait for my signal."

"Roger."

"What are you going to do today?" Shadow Man demanded.

"Liberty Raid."

"Liberty Raid?"

"The ironic codename for this little raid…"

"Little raid… Where?"

"In Belgrade, _mon ami_."

"Stop screwing with us, Twilight!" Dark Miyabi hissed.

"If you want to try to tackle those two then you're very welcome to try and die trying." He taunted next.

The walls of the sphere suddenly began to shine with light and the stairs became a smooth sliding ramp stained with motor oil: Shadow Man lost his footing and slid down it as if it was a slide and ended up coming out of the bubble to drop into the solid ground in the surface of Angband with the sphere floating atop a shaft: it quickly dived back inside and a hatch sealed it off.

"What plebeians." Shadow Man grumbled.

21:37 PM (New York Time), Sunday December the 26th…

"… Brrr… I hate this time of the year!"

"Anyone would've. And I dunno why we have to stay in the pavilion here at this time of the night… Come on! It ain't like there's gonna be a crazy guy trying to swim all the way there…"

"Of course not…! Besides… Nowadays you can only visit the pedestal because the statue is being rebuilt from the inside to provide new security measures… And the last ferry to depart from the island was way back at 5 PM! I dunno why we can't close the security pavilion and go back to our homes… What harm will it do?"

"None. The ferries are all harbored on their docks and the security Navis can do a better job than we on securing them…"

"Man! Those silly bureaucrats never caring about us rent-a-cop who gotta screen the hundreds of daily visitors…!"

Two men were discussing while sitting inside of the security pavilion in New York's Battery Park and looking out at the grayish skies and the turbulent New York Harbor waters: the figure of the Statue of Liberty was clearly visible several kilometers away.

"Hmmm? Oi. Is it me or did I see a light there, near the crown? It feels weird, though." One of the men muttered.

"Don't be silly! No maintenance staff is there at these hours: the island is closed down and there's not a soul there… You're imaging things! Or are ya gonna say it was an UFO next?" The other laughed.

"Mr. Anderson! Everyone says that the UFO ships show up in NYC of all places to begin with." An amused voice rang out from their radio.

"Who…? A radio-amateur…?"

"Nope. T Syndicate." The voice replied.

"T Syndicate? What, you wanna say you're gonna stage a general strike next week or what?"

"My, my. You don't care about what goes on out there, eh? We're the ones who caused that worldwide mass panic with the infections and such, see, Mr. Anderson."

"My name ain't Anderson! I'm Robson!"

"Robson Bornos?"

"What in the… That's ridiculous."

"Not in the least. Well. Just listen."

A loud scandal formed from somewhere in the harbor and the volume of it began to rise.

"… _We are the champions, my friends! And we'll on fighting 'till the end! We are the champions! We are the champions! No time for losers! 'Cause we are the champions of the world!_"

"Queen's _We Are the Champions…_?" Robson wondered.

"Well. At least it ain't something… provocative. You know."

"Oh yeah. We should be glad of it."

"Next on the list!"

"Hey! That's the James Bond tune!"

"True."

"Robson, Brown! What's going on? Where's this scandal originating from?" Someone asked over the radio.

"Chief. Someone claiming to be a member of some "T Syndicate" has started it up and we think they've placed some kind of sound amplifier in the Liberty Island from which to broadcast…" Robson reported.

"T Syndicate? Run for your skins! Yea~rgh!" The "Chief" yelled in pure terror.

"What's up with him? Gambling debts? I always aid the Chief played too much bridge." Robson muttered.

"L-look, Robson! The statue!"

"What's wrong? Whoa!"

Some lights of quickly shifting colors began to move in the air around the Liberty Island and sometimes they illuminated the statue itself: they suddenly heard the rumble of a helicopter's engines and saw a NYPD chopper flying towards the island.

"Hum. Good luck to them."

"Yeah. At least we're not up there struggling with the winds."

"This is Liberty Raid, my buddies! DANCE EM ALL!"

"Huh? What kind of motto is that?" Robson frowned.

"Good question, Mr. Skeptical." The voice chuckled.

"Did I sound skeptical, Brown?" Robson asked of him.

"No. You sounded confused." Brown shrugged.

"Mr. Confused bites Mr. Brown and takes his place! Where are Danvers' papers?" The voice laughed.

"Dunno."

"In the basement of the White House~!"

"I thought there was a bunker beneath it?" Robson frowned and seemed to be slightly confused.

"True, a bunking bunker of bunks!"

"HUH? That was so silly!"

"Phoenix Slayer. What are you doing with the radio? We should be doing something about that chopper." A new voice cut in.

"Don't worry! _Senpai_! We're gonna treat them to the _Gojira_ SFX and we'll see them flee back towards their nest like a woodpecker!"

"Whoa! These guys are Japanese?" Robson wondered.

"Sounds like it yet they have pretty good English…"

"GROARWH!" A roar rang out.

"_G-godzilla_~! Someone save us!"

"Heh. And the helicopter just turned tail… Good idea. Anyway, let's wrap up this little show to prove to these guys that there's nothing impossible for us. If they thought it was impossible for anyone to get here past visiting hours they were very mistaken. Heh, heh, heh."

"What in the…" Robson cursed.

"My name's Black Doom: and soon the world shall known chaos again when SW goes crazy along with the rest of facilities of its kind across the world… Heh, heh, heh." Black Doom chuckled.

"Is that a terrorism threat?" Brown grumbled.

"Relax! Nobody will be physically hurt! There'll be hysteria, despair and disbelief along others but no – one needs to take harm! I'd rather say it'll be a long and endless day… Heh, heh, heh."

"That doesn't sound too nice either! Robson argued.

"Who said we were nice?"

"Damn. I speak too much." Robson cursed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Better call your lawyer before speaking or you'll get into a pinch with the hounds out there, hiding below the canvas… Or should I say the Doberman dogs instead?" Black Doom taunted.

"Shaddup." Brown snapped.

"Fine, fine… Before that, though… I should warn you."

"Warn us? About what?"

"About hurricane _Jamaica_."

"Another hurricane! Someone save us!" Robson gasped.

"Nonsense! The news would've talked about it already."

"Too bad. I almost caught you… Oh look!"

There was a bright flash of light which expanded into a dome of pure white light illuminating the night and both men had to close their eyes and shield them: when the flash died both the statue and the pedestal was nowhere to be seen and both men's jaws hit the floor.

"See? I told you there was nothing impossible for us."

"W-what did you do to the Statue?" Robson demanded.

"Easy. We vaporized it using a special bomb."

"NO WAY! The Ruskies! The Ruskies attack us!"

"Shut up, Robson! That had to be the Z – Nation or the R – Nation: I'm sure of it! Or North Korea!" Brown argued back.

"Now you know what will show up on the front pages of all of the world's newspapers tomorrow morning." Black Doom chuckled again.

"How could you do that? The statue's been there for AGES! Ever since 1886 it's been standing there and it has defied time, weather and storms of any kind! You gotta be in league with those guys of four years ago, I'm sure of it!" Brown roared.

"What? Oh, no, no. My Boss is not interested in vain things: sometimes you can achieve your goals better by just removing one symbol from the face of the Earth."

"That's Black Doom – _senpai_ for ya guys. Ya better go call Lloyd's and ask if the thing was under insurance: you'll soon be in the need to catch a new job 'cause this pavilion will become meaningless! Heh, heh, heh! _No pain no gain_! _Rock 'n roll 'em all_!"

"Well said, Phoenix Slayer. We're off! Mwah, hah, hah."

Both men gasped as the radio frizzled and suddenly made a small explosion followed by the smell of burnt out components: both villains' chuckles seemed to echo inside of the pavilion and added a sense of dread and horror to the scene…


	42. Chapter 42: Gothmog

**Chapter 42: Gothmog**

12:12 PM (Japan Time), Monday December the 27th…

"… This is Midorikawa Kero of the DNN speaking! Urgent news! The terrorist faction known as "T Syndicate" has committed a vile act which has drawn immediate repulsion across most nations! The Statue of Liberty in Liberty Island has been… _vaporized_! It's gone along with its pedestal and not a single trace has been left behind!"

"NO WAY!"

"Kami – sama!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"By all the…!"

Netto, Saito, Haruka and Yuuichirou had been sitting in the living room and chatting when the DNN news came up: everyone jumped off their seats upon looking at the live imagery transmitted by a helicopter and with the logo "NYPD" in the NNE corner of the screen.

"Please hold on… They're going to scan with radar to see if they can pick up anything…"

A ping sound began to ring out as the chopper timidly approached Liberty Island and began to grow in volume: the chopper turned on its searchlights and tried scanning the island and that moment something curious happened: when they tried to illuminate the central portion of the island the end of the cone of light vanished from sight altogether and couldn't be seen.

"Something seems to be going on with the searchlights…"

The chopper then flew upwards and began to circle around the island trying different angles of approach as the lights searched around yet their cones of light kept on being "swallowed" by something.

"How odd… There seems to be something swallowing light up… What could it be?" Kero wondered.

The chopper suddenly switched to IR imagery and there was quite a difference: the central part of the island was surrounded by a dome-shaped black spot which didn't emit any heat and was very cold as indicated by the color scale: everyone gasped.

"Oh! My word! Could it be…?" Kero seemed to be catching up.

The chopper suddenly landed and one policeman jumped off to run towards the area: he had a radiation suit on and carried what seemed to be Geiger counter on his hands yet it wasn't emitting any noise or warning even though he was checking it from time to time: the policeman finally reached the edge of the "black dome" and tried to touch it with his hand and he did touch the "air" to everyone's surprise: the policeman tried "knocking" into the air but no sound was made: he tried a kick and let out a yelp as he clutched the damaged right foot and let go of the Geiger counter out of pure instinct.

"Ladies and gentlemen: our eyes have been fooled! There's some kind of phenomenon which swallows all light and impedes approach but… _The statue is still there_!"

"Ah!" The four of them gasped.

"Indeed, indeed! We have been deceived! Some kind of solid dome has been erected around the statue and its adjacent 10 m of radius which swallows all light! As if it was a _black hole_…!"

"Kero! There's a man on the line who claims to be the author of this and says he'll speak to you live just for the DNN!" A staff man rushed in while carrying a wireless phone.

"Oh my! Eh… Hello, hello?"

"Miss Midorikawa? Dr. Yoru Yami… That's my name." Twilight gallantly announced.

"D-Dr. Yoru Yami?" She gasped.

"I do think that's what you have out there. "Night Dark"…"

"T-that's the name of this phenomenon?"

"Indeed. A little experiment of mine… On the materialization of data sans the need of Copy Roids… The completion of two years and half of researches… The flash was for dramatic effect: it really wasn't necessary but I wanted to give the feeling of a cataclysm."

"W-whoa!"

"Twilight…!" Saito grumbled.

"If you're seeing this, my _kyoudaitachi_, then know this! You stand no chance against MY real power. Want details? Ask your sneaky _Sengoku_ descendent clever guy…" He laughed next.

"He means Dark Miyabi?" Netto guessed.

"By the way! I'm afraid to say this technology isn't going to be sold to anyone: it's my pride and personal work! No… One must always have an ace-in-the-hole… I think DARPA will soon be boiling with activity to try to gather as much possible data regarding that system yet… It's not meant to be a weapon. It's meant to be a camouflage and defense system. That's the only thing it can do. Of course: it depends on four specific devices which were deployed around the statue and brought there by two of my agents… Yet… The Cyber World of them is linked to a control device in a faraway place… Angband… And the one keeping custody of it is the strongest of my "Balrogs"… Gothmog! "Team of Colonel"! If you can hear me which I don't doubt you do… You're invited to try to defeat Gothmog and disable the devices… They won't run out of power because they absorb magnetism and the energy of the countless invisible signals travelling across the air… The only thing capable of coming in and out is a specific type of signal…" He explained.

"A challenge…!" Yuuichirou muttered.

"So… If they defeat that "Gothmog" and deactivate the controls then the statue will become visible and accessible again…?"

"Correct. _Good luck_."

"What are we waiting for? Let's assemble and head to Angband to fight them back!" Saito rallied.

5:25 AM (Norway Time)…

"… Huff, huff… Damn it. They laid us trap after trap and in the end only we three have made it to this end…"

"Y-yeah… But I'm sure the others will find their way across sooner or later, too… Rock Man…"

"Heh… Guess you must feel optimistic in this situation…"

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh."

"Coming…!"

Rock Man, Shirakami and "Copy" Forte made it inside of a large room having a server on the center of it shielded by an energy field and being built in a circular manner: there was a large locked gateway on the third floor's north wall and another on the first floor's south wall from which they'd come in: the three of them had considerable bruises and hits to their bodies.

"Battling strengthened "Liberate Mission" guardians was no walking into the park…! But we won't give up… We'll defeat Gothmog!"

"While you keep the giant busy I'll try to remove the shield and switch off the server…" Grand announced as he showed up behind them.

"W-when did you…?"

"Sorry. But Obihiro thought I'd be of use… Freeze Man – _senpai_ remembered about this room and one emergency tunnel so I used to come inside…" Grand apologized.

"Yeah. Leave the server to me, guys." Obihiro confirmed.

"Obihiro… Alright! We'll be buying time for you! Let's go!" Netto grinned and rallied the three of them.

"Alright!" Shirakami grinned.

"Roger, Admiral Gorer!" "Copy" Forte laughed.

"We won't lose! Not without trying!" Rock Man challenged.

"Wroh, wroh, wroh!"

The third floor's doorways shook as they swung outwards and the mole of Gothmog came out from inside of it as the doorways closed again and got locked up: the three Navis had already climbed to the third floor and had drawn their weapons.

"Giga Cannon!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Darkness Overload!"

The three attacks, however, were reflected by Gothmog's sword which had showed up in front of it facing forward by the sides so it suddenly inclined forward and drew a full circle: the attacks hit the walls instead and made some holes there.

"No way! The sword deflected those three attacks?" Netto gasped in disbelief.

"Gotta admit I copied that from Sigma… That's why he uses such a big sword: to deflect attacks…" Twilight's echoing voice rang out.

"Twilight…!" Saito hissed.

"Go, Gothmog!"

"Muwro~h!"

Gothmog wielded the sword and hit the floor with it causing a circular shockwave which sent the three of them flying across the floor and they hit the opposite walls with violence before falling into the ground: Gothmog jumped over the server towards Rock Man and suddenly began to try to crush him with the right foot: the floor was starting to crack and succumb to the tremendous pressure and eventually collapsed so Rock Man fell into the second floor where he rolled to the left so as to avoid Gothmog's landing: its weight cracked this floor too and they dropped into the first floor: Grand gasped since he was working on the northern side of this same floor: Gothmog drew the whip but some concentrated shots hit its right hand.

"Oi! Don't forget me, ugly! Hell's Buster!"

"Mugen Vulcan!"

Gothmog looked at "Copy" Forte and Shirakami standing in the third floor but it just drew the whip and had it coil around their legs below the knees to draw them into the ground and make them fall there with violence: the group managed to stand up somehow.

"Recovery 300!"

"T-thanks, Netto – kun…! Grand…! How much more….!"

"Eh… 200 seconds more or less…!" He told them.

"200 seconds…! We gotta win 200 seconds…! Somehow…!"

"Hey, Rock Man… I've studied your "Soul Unison" ability for a while and I designed a program which could come in useful… The "Cross System" didn't replace the "Soul Unison" program because those were cache data stored in the PET and not in your body… I know that the "Soul Unisons" were stored as Chip data, yeah, but… My point is… You should be able to use this program… It may mark a difference…!" "Copy" Forte told him as he procured a silver and golden spheroid.

"Alright… Let's try it out…"

Rock Man picked the program and held it in front of his chest emblem: he closed his eyes and spread his arms wide as the program flashed and hovered into his chest emblem: some streaks of golden and silver light jumped off it and a "cocoon" of golden and silver energy formed around Rock Man and began to hover up into the air: some energy pulsations suddenly rang out and Gothmog diverted the attention there as well as the other three Navis.

"What energy readouts!" Twilight gasped.

"Heh! Not even ya can predict what'll happen next."

"What kind of form will be generated…? Form…? It couldn't be…! But if it were to be true then… That'd be amusing!"

"Coming…!"

The "cocoon" vanished to reveal a new form of Rock Man that really looked like a fusion between him and either of the two Fortes.

The helmet design was also highly similar to either Forte's designs including a small greenish diamond in the center of the forehead.

His forearms got replaced by the design the two Fortes had as well as his boots.

He gained two shoulder armor pieces and a deteriorated brownish scarf around his neck which ended in a broken shard at the end.

"Forte Cross Rock Man: that's what I name it!" "Copy" Forte grinned.

There was an explosion as the northern doors got blown out: Phoenix Slayer came in: his ruby had broken and his eyes displayed lust and hatred.

"Free! This pulsation…! My body resonated with it…! And awakened my true repressed self…! I'm free…! And now I'll absorb this power and be the strongest Net Navi ever…! And have my vengeance on the humans! All of them will pay for their treason!" "Original" Forte exclaimed.

"Oh heck. I didn't foresee that one." "Copy" Forte cursed.

"Lovely. Now what do we do? Grand! How much time do you still need?"

"Around 155 seconds…!" He replied.

"Good. Keep at it: it'd seem we'll have to distract that guy… You handle the guy while I help Rock Man with the mole."

"Alright… Yo! _Ani – ue – sama_! Bite my shining ass!"

"You bastard, you clown, you imitator, you impersonator…! I'll fucking destroy you for good today!" He roared.

"Copy" Forte jumped across the room and ran off through the corridor "Original" Forte had come in from so "Original" Forte gave chase while Shirakami shot another Mugen Vulcan at Gothmog to annoy it: Forte Cross Rock Man began to load energy.

"You ugly bully! I'm your worst nightmare!" He seemingly improved with obvious sarcasm.

"Muwro~rgh!" Gothmog roared.

It brandished the whip and the contact of it with Shirakami's body was enough to make a cut there exposing some of his "skin" underneath the bodysuit and leaving a slight scar there: Shirakami got pissed off and attacked again while aiming for the knuckles but Gothmog just punched him into the wall.

"… 110 seconds…!" Grand muttered.

"You're asking for it, you bully! Dream Sword!"

The Dream Sword did cut the whip in half and in two vertical halves so Gothmog wasted to time in discarding it and picking up the sword without noticing Forte Cross Rock Man finishing loading up what seemed to be a powered-up Darkness Overload.

"… 95 seconds…!" Grand whispered.

"Hyper Darkness Overload!"

"Muwroh?"

"Gotcha, ugly."

Rock Man suddenly shot the attack while aiming for the back of Gothmog and Gothmog looked over the right shoulder too late: the next second the beam had gone through its body and Gothmog uttered something before collapsing into the ground floor's terrain leaving a deep crater there which Grand barely avoided falling into by jumping aside and gasping in awe.

"W-whoa. Eh… 80 seconds…" He muttered.

"One blow…! Just one blow and it cleaved through Gothmog's state-of-the-art armor…! Forte Cross Rock Man…!" Twilight muttered.

"Huff, huff… I somehow managed to ditch _ani-ue-sama_ and so tossed him into an _onsen_ someone had built. And surely that someone happens to be good old Bubble Man." "Copy" Forte ran back in panting.

"I see. Oi, Rock Man… You alright?"

"Y-yeah… Somewhat tired but… Ah! Watch out, Grand! South!"

"Yikes!"

"Mu… wrorgh!"

Gothmog hadn't given up and had tried to catch Grand who dodged just in time and the hand closed around empty air: the main wound had been critical but not critical enough to totally stop Gothmog.

"Hell's Buster!"

"Hell's Buster!"

"Mugen Vulcan!"

"… 45 seconds…!"

The three of them attacked Gothmog while Grand typed into the holographic screen like mad: Gothmog ignored their attacks and managed to lean both hands on the rim of the crater and tried to pull up in a slow manner.

"Heck. What do we have to do to stop it, behead it?" "Copy" Forte cursed aloud.

"Almost there…! 20 seconds…!" Grand gasped.

"In just 20 seconds…? No. Let's bombard them. Eat this! Mega Energy Bomb!" Shirakami replied.

"Alright! Eat Mega Energy Bomb too!" Rock Man exclaimed.

"Mega Energy Bomb for desserts!"

The bombardment had Gothmog lose its grip on the crater and slide back into its depths: the server's shielding vanished and it emitted a large hum and it began to shut down.

"5 seconds! 4! 3! 2! 1! Shutdown complete! The machines in Liberty Island should shut down in about 10 to 15 minutes." Grand reported.

"We did it!" Netto exclaimed.

"Good work." Barrel told him.

"Thanks, Barrel – san! How are the others?"

"They've made it alive somehow but we're pulling back. You should head back too: crisis solved. That new power is useful but it'd be wiser to train with it for a bit to get used to it." Barrel replied.

"Good enough."

"Hmpf! Today I'll let you off. But tomorrow… Oh yes… Tomorrow will be an important day… You've got the second half of this day to train or disconnect yet… Tomorrow… Will be a very important day…"

"Jeez. Worse than a movie teaser, even!" Dingo complained.

CLONG!

"Iwa~h! Nenji – san! Stop with the frying pan thing!"

"Don't say nonsense in front of Ms. Princess, you kiddo!"

"Please! I thought we'd agreed we'd get along as if I was a mere civilian, hadn't we?" Pride brought up with obvious exasperation.

"Uwah! I'm sorry, Princess!"

"The seeds of the enemy are within us, huh…" Dark Miyabi muttered.

"So it'd seem. Don't you think so, Laika?" Enzan asked.

"Indeed. I'd foreseen such an outcome." Laika calmly replied.

"Jeez. Men will be men then!" Jasmine protested.

"G-guess so…" Netto nervously replied.

"Nothing will intimidate us, Yoru Yami." Barrel challenged.

"We'll soon see about that, very soon indeed, oh my precious."

He chuckled under his breath while the four Navis escaped the dreaded place: they felt a shiver go down their spines…


	43. Chapter 43: Frankess

**Chapter 43: Frankness**

16:55 PM (Japan Time), Monday December the 27th…

"… That email… Twilight sent it, obviously, yet… It sounds so… unrealistic, really. Is he trying to sound imposing or is he imitating those video games guys again? What do you make outta it, Saito – niisan?"

"Hard to say at this point, Netto, but… I'm starting to think there might be some truth to it… There's something which has been picking on me for a while already…"

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"Their faces."

"Their faces? Whose faces?"

"Those two men's faces…"

"Twilight and Vadous – san's faces…? What's wrong with them?"

"I'm not sure myself."

Netto and Saito were discussing the contents of some kind of email which had reached them while sitting in chairs facing each other and inside of their bedroom: Saito looked thoughtful while Netto was frowning and apparently didn't see the point of it.

"It's been picking me for a while already. But I don't want to enter speculation terrain without some solid proof yet the news Miyabi brought over of him being my equal pick on me… He seems to be focusing his attention on me given how I inspired him but I believe there's another reason I haven't noticed yet…" Saito muttered.

"Again, I don't see anything odd in their faces."

"I do spot one: they don't seem to have any traces of facial hair to begin with and that's odd: I mean, they're 22~23 years old each! You start growing that at around 15~16…" Saito brought up.

"Oh! Good point… I hadn't noticed!"

"And I'll insist that their faces give out a strange vibe: I can't shake it off n matter what!" Saito stood up and sounded exasperated.

"W-whoa! Calm down, Saito – niisan! Aren't you over-thinking the whole deal? I don't see anything really weird there!"

"You don't. But my intuition tells me there is something." Saito insisted once again with a hint of annoyance.

"If you insist…" Netto shrugged.

"Anyway… Did you have any plans for this afternoon?" Saito sighed and switched topics.

"W-well, yeah… I was gonna go to Shirakami's…" Netto timidly admitted while blushing a bit.

"Fine. I've had my dose with "Copy" Forte already so I'll be trying to do some researches from here…" Saito shrugged it off.

"Alright… I'll try to be back before 7 PM… He'll escort me back home just in case too… Later…"

"Later."

Netto left the room and closed the door while Saito sat down in front of the PC and looked at the two photos: he zoomed on Twilight's one and began to zoom on some spot or another while looking concentrated and seemingly looking for something.

"The shape of the ears… The nose… The surrounding of the eyes plus that type of smooth chin… That profile view…! I'm getting closer to the truth but… _What_ is the truth? And speaking of truth… I still haven't figure out what the noises I heard the other day when I was captured by Twilight and brought into his hideout… That mechanical sound followed by a change on the power feeding is picking me… But it didn't sound like a boat or a large ship: even if they were anchored I'd picked the vibration of some machines or a distinct power humming…!"

He leant back on his chair and sighed while closing the right hand in front of his face…

17:28 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. Let's get started, Shirakami. But don't put the blindfold on me today: there's something I want to talk with you face-to-face. Got a problem with it?"

"No. Why should I?"

"Sorry. I tend to behave weird from time to time. Anyway. Start setting me up."

"Roger."

Netto finished taking off his clothes while standing next to Shirakami's bed in his room and looked at him: Shirakami had put on his civilian clothes today and looked slightly surprised at Netto's question who shrugged it off momentarily: he then crossed his wrists by placing his arms behind his back and Shirakami immobilized them with some rope and then formed a lace which he passed around Netto's neck to interlace with a horizontal rope bound around Netto's upper body at below the nipples thus locking his arms behind his body: Netto then sat on the bed and folded his legs before lying face-up: Shirakami tied another rope just at the waist: he placed two bands of rope around the hips and before the knee to keep Netto's legs folded: his next step was to interlink both bands between them and with the rope around the waist.

"There." He announced.

"Good. Clip me." Netto told him.

"Are you sure of it, Netto – kun?" Shirakami asked.

"I know you always want to seek my approval and I don't mind it: go ahead. It makes me feel excited." Netto calmly replied.

"Alright…"

Shirakami placed two clothes pegs on his nipples linked by a small thin thread and Netto formed a broad smile as if he'd been expecting them and was glad to feel them: Shirakami took off his clothes and climbed into the bed next to Netto while looking at him.

"Stuff it inside of me first and then I'll tell you."

"Alright…"

Shirakami rubbed his penis and slowly slid it inside of Netto who let out a sigh of relief and seemed to enjoy the feeling of it.

"Alright… You see, it's about Meiru and Yaito…"

"Sakurai – san and Ayanokouji – san…?" Shirakami wondered.

"They've gotten weird."

"Weird?"

"It's happened twice already: they call me over to Yaito's mansion then we bathe in the indoor swimming pool… But then they suddenly tie me up and play with me… Don't freak out, wait a min. They don't take off their bathing suits or my trunks but they use that vibrator toy… I wouldn't mind it much but then they put on what they call "strap-on"… Those are plastic penises filled with hard spots… They stuffed those in my insides and it didn't feel nice… I had to bear with it and they liked seeing me release several times in a row… But I can't think of denouncing them and I'm afraid to refute them… What should I do?" He explained.

"Well… Good question…" Shirakami trailed off.

"You don't have any ideas? I didn't dare tell Saito – niisan because he'd get annoyed and scandalized but I thought that maybe you would be able to think of something…"

"Hmmm… They know about us?"

"Yeah. Don't ask me why. I never opened my mouth about that." Netto shrugged his shoulders.

"And about you and Rock Man too…?"

"They know that too…"

"Maybe someone's given the idea to them?"

"And who could that be?"

"Did that begin before Anaya escaped jail or afterwards?"

"Before."

"Hmmm… Then maybe Twilight gave them the idea and wanted them to use the same tricks Anaya used… Maybe he thought it'd be amusing to tempt them… He obviously doesn't expect them to go too far at their age and such but with some time…" Shirakami suggested.

"Twilight, huh… So he wants to tempt them… But I'm sure he was specifically aiming for Meiru… I can totally see her trying to be over the others… I should talk with her about this." Netto grumbled.

"But let's settle that later and get out with our business… Shall we, Netto – kun?" Shirakami tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah. Make me feel alive."

"Alright. Here I go!"

Shirakami began to pump and in and out of Netto's insides while he slightly pulled the connecting thread upwards and Netto bit it with his teeth while pulling it upwards: he closed his eyes and seemed to be enjoying the feeling given how his penis was getting hard: Shirakami rubbed the head with his right hand's thumb finger and Netto arched his body in an involuntary shudder: Shirakami grinned and began to rub his thumb finger around the head of Netto's head to stimulate him further until Netto suddenly released thus staining his upper body and face: Shirakami felt Netto's insides tightening around his penis so he closed his eyes and released as well: Netto let go of the string and panted while Shirakami took his cock out of Netto's insides and picked up the vibrator which he turned on at the minimum speed mode to then stuff it inside of Netto: he moved upwards and picked his head from behind with care while hardening his penis: Netto didn't open his eyes yet he simply licked Shirakami's penis thus making him shudder.

"Please, Netto – kun…"

"Stuff it inside of my mouth: I wanna feel a real penis." Netto requested with obvious eagerness.

"Okay!"

Shirakami carefully moved Netto's head forward to have him swallow his penis and Netto immediately began to lick the urethra thus sending a shudder of pleasure down Shirakami's spine.

"O~h!" He moaned.

He instinctively grabbed Netto's head from behind to set a pace and Netto calmly licked around the head before simply resorting to sucking on it and Shirakami moaned: he did smile and increased the speed of the vibrator to medium as Netto's penis got hard again: Shirakami gasped and went off thus filling his mouth while Netto released again.

"Netto – kun… There's something I wanna do… Can I stuff your penis inside of me? Can you be the first to enter inside of me?" Shirakami requested as he took his penis out of his mouth.

Netto opened his eyes and directed a smile at Shirakami.

"Of course."

"Thank you, really."

"Don't mind it. We're friends, right? This is just something to spice it up a bit but that doesn't change that we're doing it because we both like it, right, Shirakami?" Netto calmly reminded him.

"Yeah. You're right."

Shirakami rubbed Netto's penis to make it get hard and slowly lowered his body into it to allow it to penetrate inside of it: the sensation was a first for him and he looked totally awed as he finished lowering his body and let out a sigh of pleasure.

"It's inside of me…! Netto – kun is inside of me…!" He muttered.

Netto didn't comment and just directed a smile at him while he savored the feeling of the vibrator placed on his insides: Shirakami began to use his hips to move up and down while rubbing his penis: Netto closed his eyes and opened his mouth as if expecting what was going to happen.

"Netto – kun! I'm going off!"

"Come!"

Shirakami released and stained Netto's face plus some other stains fell inside of his awaiting mouth: Shirakami's insides tightened around Netto's penis and provoked his release as well: both panted while Shirakami climbed up and detached from Netto's penis: he suddenly turned the vibrator to the max speed and hugged Netto as he rubbed his penis against his and began a passionate kiss with him: Netto responded to it while Shirakami kept on rubbing their penises together: they eventually released and stained both of their bodies before breaking their kiss and seeing the string of saliva and white liquid connecting them.

"Wow. Today felt different… You're opening up, Shirakami. You'd always been timid and reluctant but lately I can sense that you're opening up and today you let your feelings guide you…" Netto smiled.

"Y-yeah… I've been too paranoid and pessimistic… Guess I need to cheer up myself… Oh yeah… I heard that the _Three Musketeers_ beat up a trio of "Balrogs" trying to stir up a ruckus in Reverse Square. I've seen them in battle and they're terrifically efficient." Shirakami admitted.

"No wonder. They've had plenty of years to go around busting both small and big fry." Netto shrugged.

"Well then, should we wrap it up?"

"Hmmm… Wait a min. Let's try the _six_-_nine_!"

"The _six_-_nine_…? Well… Why not… It sounds thrilling!"

Shirakami got into the "six-nine" pose and began to suck on Netto's penis while Netto sucked on his: they kept at it for a while before they released so Shirakami quickly turned around to face him and hugged him before kissing him again: he suddenly pulled the covers over them.

"You had to turn me on, Netto – kun. And now I'm gonna test stuffing my penis into you along with the vibrator…" He giggled.

"Bring it on!" Netto challenged.

17:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Vadous and Kanou Shade… What do you think of Twilight's intentions now that we know his true nature?"

"Hard to say but I'm rather worried about the bitch… Twilight is clever and such but it ain't like he seeks all-out war… The bitch, however, would stop at nothing to make the young generation suffer…"

"Indeed. That's why we should focus on bringing her down again and this time organize some well-timed sabotages and cutting off the money plus circulating official notices that anyone trying to benefit those gangs will be judged as well… That should scare some jerks away."

"Hum. It sounds logical, yeah…"

"Are you alright, Mr. Barrel? You look tired. Have you slept at all ever since Christmas?"

"I've had trouble sleeping but the focus of my preoccupations is in Colonel and not the ongoing incidents…"

"Ah. True, true… Colonel…"

"Cyber City…?"

Barrel, Vadous and Kanou Shade were discussing inside of the Science Labs' Command Room and Barrel trailed off with a sigh: both men looked somewhat unsure of what to say when Barrel brought up Colonel's name so they remained silent: Barrel looked at the ground and then shook his head as if to snap outta it by rubbing his eyes and stretching before pocketing his hands in the jeans.

"Forget it. I can deal with that later… What should we about Twilight, however?"

"Hum. Well… The guy is by all means and manners a Net Navi so he can't be captured just like that… I think he'll challenge Rock Man to a battle in a personal manner given what he told Mr. Miyabi… Rock Man will surely try to just defeat him and not delete him because he's not the type to do that…" Vadous suggested.

"Sounds logical, Cousin."

"One thing, though… I've tried to research more on Twilight's past but I've been unable to find anything earlier than high school. Any ideas of why or is there some trick involved?" Barrel brought up.

"Hmmm… Maybe he changed his name and appearance back then and such we're unable to track him earlier than high school…" Kanou Shade suggested.

"Ah. So that could be the why… Maybe he picked his current name to reflect his nature of stealthy and secretive too… He also came up with that device which we saw a while ago employed to hide objects and such protect them from any contact… I'm wondering if it could resist attacks by weaponry but I guess it must to some extent… He could have it ready and use it to seal up his hideout and avoid us from storming it…" Barrel brought the right hand to his chin.

"Oh yeah. I hadn't thought of that… I should try to investigate on the data we hacked from the server… I'll have to go visit Obihiro at the Urakawa Inn right away… In fact… The sooner I go the better so that I can analyze the data and figure out any weaknesses…" Vadous muttered.

"Alright. Let's leave it here for today: was anything urgent to happen we all know how to contact each other." Barrel settled.

"Tonight, my vending machine brethren… The revolution!"

"YOU DAMNED MACHINE~! GIMME MY CAPPUCCINO~! I CAN'T WORK WITHOUT MY CAPPUCCINO~!"

"By all the… That's gotta be Omega's handiworks again. I'm so gonna fix the guy up." Vadous cursed.

"It's starting to become annoying. Truly." Kanou Shade fumed.

"Yeah. Meijin isn't the only one suffering from that."

"Boss! Let's go bossing a boss!" The machine chanted.

"What in the…? Gate Man! Do something about it!"

"Roger."

"Yo! Gate Man! Going to inaugurate the Bradenburger Tor?"

"Huh? That monument in Berlin…?"

"Yeah! 'Cause you're the gate – em – 'all guy."

"By all the… That's so silly."

Vadous ran off upon hearing the exchange between Omega and Gate Man inside of the machine.

"OMEGA~!"

"Ops. Fire – 'em – all Man came so I'm off to the Bermudas. I'll send ya a UFO's piece as _souvenir_. _Ciao, caro mio_!" Omega chuckled.

"Grfjtx! I didn't like that one!" Gate Man grumbled.

"Go back to the HQ: there'll be a lot of stuff to do tomorrow! And we need to properly rest! So move your ass!" Vadous yelled.

"Roger, Ass – 'em – all Man."

"I give up!"

"No wonder." Kanou Shade sighed in defeat.

Barrel, however, was thinking of something else and had a slightly puzzled expression to his face.

_Vadous' face reminds me of someone! But who? And why should he remind me of someone if he's not of my generation, anyway? This is starting to get weird. And I got that same vibe from Twilight as well: maybe I should ask a favor out of Zero and try to check up one or two loose ends…_

"Zero will zero 'em all!" Omega laughed.

"Shut the trap up!" Vadous yelled.

_There's something hidden beneath the surface and I won't feel satisfied until I unearth it… Barrel's word!_


	44. Chapter 44: Manslaughter

**Chapter 44: Manslaughter**

09:23 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 28th…

"… Oi. Look… There, on the horizon… What's that stain?"

"Dunno… Don't you feel a noise growing louder?"

"True."

"Wait… It ain't a stain…!"

"It couldn't be…!"

"L-let's warn the others!"

"Not so fast. You gotta get past my blade firstly."

"Yikes!"

Two Navis had been keeping watch of a road when they spotted something in the distance and gasped: they tried to run for it but Black Doom suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Killer Beam!"

"Thousand Spear."

"So that's how it is."

"Whack! Damn!"

Two attacks impacted on Black Doom and he whipped around to see Dark Man, Yamato Man and Serenade advancing towards his position: he stepped back out of nervousness and glanced towards the road: some explosions suddenly rang out along with roars and yells.

"Stealth Mines." Serenade calmly announced.

"H-how could you know we'd come through here?"

"It's a poorly watched road yet strategically speaking very convenient so anyone would've picked it up." Serenade replied.

"Shit."

More explosions rang out as Dark Man and Yamato Man attacked the incoming horde of Uruk – Hai soldiers: bits of the road then were blown up and stopped their progress.

"Damn it! We're sitting ducks here! You! Pull back! Pull back! Back to Angband through the warp-gate…! Retreat! Invasion failed!"

"Gra~h!"

The horde ran off and headed back through the road while Black Doom flew over them cursing under his breath.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Demon Fire!"

"Plasma Sphere!"

"Muwra~rgh!"

"Oh fuck."

Blood Shadow, Sigma and Omega attacked the horde from three different spots: Blood Shadow landed next to them and shot a close-quarters shot from his shotgun: Sigma's eyes projected two red laser beams and set the road on fire while Omega's plasma round deleted several units upon contact: Black Doom gasped.

"We're surrounded! This is gonna become manslaughter!"

"Yeah! Just like the Uruk – Hai coming back to Isengard from the falls of Rauros… The riders of Rohan cornered them and slaughtered them all and not a single one was left alive… And the same applies to those which assaulted Helm's Deep!" Omega exclaimed.

"Oh damn." Black Doom cursed.

"DAMN YOU~!" Twilight yelled over the radio.

"Like I thought… You and _shachou_ act alike when you get pissed off. No wonder! Both come from the same spot…" Omega shrugged.

"Shaddup!"

"Twilight!" Anaya scolded.

"Huh! Your Grace?"

"Don't behave like a five – cent imbecile!" She commanded.

"Y-your will, Your Grace." He gasped.

"Alright! Time for some old-fashioned sword battle… Here! Hrah! Hah! Huh! Heh! Take this and that and this one!"

Omega landed on the ground and drew his sword to then start moving around in a red blur while slicing enemies in pieces and deleting them: Sigma began to hit them with the sword and sent them flying for Blood Shadow to bombard them with two Super Vulcan Battle Chips: as if wasn't enough Dark Man and Yamato Man joined the fray.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Black Doom cursed.

"Found you."

"Oh shit!"

CLANG!

"Today you're gonna be deleted."

"You're gonna have to get past my sword first… Zero!"

Zero suddenly showed up and began to battle with Black Doom as the five Navis kept on destroying the army before letting four or five of them run away.

"They'll tell the others and there'll be a revolt which will be rather hard to pull down because most of the tunnels aren't designed for the Balrogs to use… And not even Phoenix Slayer can handle those many guys at the same time…" Omega grinned.

"Sure thing…" Sigma grinned.

"And then we'll bring war to them like the Last Alliance did but we're not gonna be so stupid as to leave the ultimate weapon intact and take it away for our own profit…" Blood Shadow shrugged.

"True!" Yamato Man confirmed.

"Kush, kush… With these I've already beaten 13.579 Net Navis… Serenade – sama will surely concede me a chance for a new duel!" Dark Man chuckled.

"Yikes." The three Navis muttered.

"Doom Beam!"

"How vain."

"Damn it. There's no hitting you!"

"How many times do I have to say this? You're a mere pale imitation of me…"

Black Doom was trying to fight Zero in a proper manner but ended up being unable to hit him while Zero had no trouble countering or blocking each of his attacks: Black Doom tried to hit Zero's face but he quickly blocked the incoming attack: Black Doom growled and morphed his right arm into a "Tank Cannon" with a shortened barrel: the blast did push both of them apart but Zero was able to block most of its force with the sword and split its energy into several pieces which Black Doom absorbed into his sword as it became reddish: he charged for Zero and when their blades made contact smoke began to form on the spot of the clash while the alloy began to melt: it broke in two and Black Doom managed to drive his sword into the right side of Zero's chest yet he didn't react to the wound as he merely punched Black Doom's right cheek with the left fist so as to momentarily distract him: he gripped Black Doom's sword arm and drove it into his own right knee: Black Doom yelped and clutched the damaged knee yet Zero suddenly kicked him on the face and into the ground where he landed with a loud THUD sound.

"Damn it! My right knee…! Grah! It hurts like hell. I can't keep on fighting like this…! But I'll settle the score sooner or later! Farewell!"

He logged out while Zero calmly lowered into the ground and checked the wound: he shrugged it off while the other Navis whistled in admiration at the battle they'd seen.

"What. It wasn't that much of a deal." Zero shrugged it off.

"W-well. Guess so." Blood Shadow muttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah. That guy will have to go back in shame." Sigma chuckled as he tapped his sword.

"No doubt… He'll have to do a 100 flexions non-stop!"

"Kush, kush… I'm going back to train… Kush, kush…"

"Hum! Serenade – sama is waiting for us. Farewell!"

"I'm off to the Science Labs: we're gathering everyone to prepare a defense team and an attack team like in August." Zero announced as he lowered the sword.

"Alright. We'll go have a bit of rest and then get ready to go and bring war to Angband…" Omega nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of such, Shadow Man mentioned he found a secret lab room which had something named "Prototype" stored in it for experimentation but it was finished and had been moved elsewhere… But I guess nothing can be more annoying than having to battle Gothmog…" Blood Shadow commented as he rubbed his chin.

"There's something worse." Omega suddenly muttered.

"What is it, sir?"

"Finding out that they've put pheromones in the meal to have you behave like a woman…" He grinned.

"OMEGA!" Vadous scolded.

"Ops. Better go back before Meijin – sama sues me for stealing his canned coffee…" Omega grinned.

"Sir Omega…!" Both Sigma and Blood Shadow sighed in defeat.

"Come back already, you moron!"

"Moron Man will come and go!"

09:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So… There's no – one… And it's cold. Why did they ask to come out up here, anyway?"

"Dunno. Maybe there's something they want to discuss with us without the others interfering?"

"Ah! There you are. So? Why did you tell me to come?"

"Do excuse us, sir? I thought you'd called us, sir?"

"I didn't. Did you?"

"Not me, either."

"Then who the heck wanted to gather the 4 of us in the rooftop of the Science Labs to begin with?"

Netto and Saito were standing in the rooftop of the Science Labs and looking out towards the bay where the _SS Queen Checko_ was docked at when Vadous and Kanou Shade came out as well: they all looked confused regarding who'd told them to come there.

"Twilight, then?" Netto suggested.

"It's pretty hard to snipe from a lower height and besides there's no – one in sight…" Kanou Shade muttered as he looked downwards.

"I'll use my PET's radar app… Hmmm… Nothing either… No heat signatures down there or above us either… Well. Let's go back inside because this is a waste of time: Twilight did this to laugh at us." Vadous settled by using his Link PET.

"Not so fast, _kyoudaitachi_! The day has come! The day to settle the score and decide which of us is the chosen one…!" Twilight's voice boomed out of nowhere.

"What?" The four of them gasped.

"Surprise, surprise…"

A purple mass of energy surrounded them and they disappeared…

10:14 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ugh… My head's spinning… Huh? T-this background noise…! This has to be…!"

"Grah! They got us?"

"Damned son of a bitch."

"Che. Troublesome man…!"

"Welcome to my hideout! _Kyoudaitachi_! Hikari _kyoudai_!"

"Twilight!"

"Hey. Don't forget me~…"

"Or me."

"Anaya and Izono… The full club, huh…"

"How lovely."

"Heh! Brag while you can! Traitor dogs."

The four persons recovered from their sudden blacking out and rose to their feet to find out that they were inside of the room which served as Twilight's HQ: the metallic rotating table was visible in the southern end of the room while the armchair was set on the middle: two cylinders had been placed at both sides of it where Anaya and Izono were standing at and looking down (literally) at the group.

"I gave you everything and you betrayed me." Anaya hissed.

"Everything? Don't say nonsense: you only taught us some additional stuff and changed our lives by splitting us away from all people we knew and changing our identities… But that plan backfired on you because there's something named "moral" which you don't have. Hadn't we stopped you things would've escalated in a catastrophic manner. The world's youngest generations would be doomed. We wouldn't let you rob the world of their children just for filthy money in exchange." Vadous shot back.

"Indeed! You're but a tyrant, one more to add to the roster."

"Hmpf! But my reign inspired terror and managed to control what the others couldn't control: this whole nation's underground! Only I could do that!" She exclaimed.

"Whatever. All tyrants try to come up with lame excuses but they're mere egoistical types." Vadous scoffed.

"Hmpf! If I really was _that_ egoistical I wouldn't have come this far! Only by exploiting human weaknesses I've reached this end! You're going to deeply regret your selfish betrayal!" She shot back.

"Selfish? Come on. It was for the sake of the younger generation. And everyone knows it. You think you're the white chess queen and that we're the black pawns. White goes first and the queen's got the wider range of movements of all pieces so you thought you were totally above the pawns yet even a pawn can become a new queen." Kanou Shade grumbled as he tossed his hat and sunglasses aside as if to show how annoyed he really was.

"And that's what this man did." Vadous added by signaling Twilight.

"No, no. I'm but the bishop." Twilight replied.

"See? And the bishop is one of the queen's defenders! Marco here is the rook who acts as a wall to shield me…" Anaya made a smug smile.

"Where's this place at?" Netto interrupted.

"Easy. This place is a small _space station_ in an orbit about 500 km over the surface of the Earth! Dotted with a stealth camouflage field, it's invisible to the eye and the radar… I built it in secret by assembling some components myself and stealing spares from some agencies while replacing them by fake spares… I then used a specially modified hanger to assemble it and send it to space via the gateway system… I can come in and out using the gateway anytime. The noise you heard, Rock Man, was one of the solar panels changing its position to lock in an angle where it'd get the higher possible amount of sunlight and thus charge up the emergency batteries… It had to reroute some electricity: and the station also did a minimal speed correction with the control jets…"

"So that's how it was…!" Saito muttered.

"And why did you drag us along? This is between you five and we're unrelated. The only thing which is related is that Saito – niisan was your inspiration to become a Navi but apart from that…" Netto argued while glaring at Twilight.

"What. You don't know yet?" Anaya looked amused.

"Know what?" Saito demanded.

"So! You dogs are so afraid of being laughed at that you went with the image I made to hide your true origins, eh? But I thought you'd let out a hint or two, Twilight."

"Your Grace. I did give to them non-written hints yet I wanted to wait for an appropriate moment to reveal it, if you shall excuse me." He made a courteous bow.

"Ah well! No big deal then. Tee, heh, heh. You'll be skeptical but then all will make sense, you gnats." She directed a smug smile at them while giggling.

"What?" Both frowned.

"Hmmm? They've decided to move firstly… The research compound is being attacked and they're going in through different spots… Well, whatever. They won't have it easy." Twilight muttered as he glanced at a holographic screen which popped out in front of him.

"Today we're going to raze that place and delete it from existence forever…! You're not going to use it anymore!" Netto grinned.

"Well. That remains to be seen." Twilight shrugged.

"Shut your trap, bitch, and accept defeat." Vadous grumbled.

"Bow before the Queen, you plebeian!"

"Shoo, shoo." Kanou Shade taunted.

"These damned mice…!" She hissed.

"Do calm down, Your Grace…" Izono timidly called out.

"Shaddup, valet!" She snapped at him.

"R-roger, Your Grace…"

"Ki~h! I feel like destroying something!" She shrieked.

"Destroy your own ego. How did that song go like again…? Ah, yes, yes! Now I remember: _Die Another Day_ by Madonna… _I'm gonna break up the cycle… I'm gonna shake up the system… I'm gonna destroy my ego… I'm gonna close my body now…_ Hmpf!" Vadous grinned.

"That make-up bitch has nothing to do with ME!"

"D-do calm down, Your Grace… Thou are falling into disgrace, Your Grace…!" Izono nervously whispered.

"Shaddup, valet! Or else feel my anger's flames!"

"Yikes."

"No good." Twilight sighed and rolled his eyes in defeat.

"What's no good, you?" She snapped at Twilight.

"Huh! Your Grace! T-they're trying to defeat us!" He improvised.

"WHAT? AH! So that's these damned mice's goal!" She cursed as she faced them again.

"So what." Vadous shot back.

"This is nothing, Anaya." Kanou Shade replied.

"Enough screwing around! I'll now say it! I'll discredit you damned traitors here and NOW!" She proclaimed while signaling them with that stick-like tool on her right hand.

"Try it." Both challenged.

"You dare challenge me, huh? Very well then! I'll say it! You mice… You mice… Are a bunch of FREAKS! FREAKS! FREAKS! Why? Hah! That's very simple… YOU'RE NOT NORMAL HUMANS TO BEGIN WITH!"


	45. Chapter 45: Roots

**Chapter 45: Roots**

10:38 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 28th…

"… YOU'RE NOT NORMAL HUMANS TO BEGIN WITH! That's why you damned mice are FREAKS!"

"If you mean that they are prodigies then I don't see why you call them freaks, villain!"

"Yeah. I don't see the point either."

"AH NO? Hum! Then why does the black-haired mouse resemble you so much, Hikari Netto? And why does Twilight resemble you so much, Rock Man EXE? HUH?"

"What!"

Netto looked at Vadous who avoided eye contact and Saito at Twilight who replied with a smug smile: Kanou Shade looked at the ground and appealed as being defeated.

"So that's what was picking you, Saito – niisan! He does look like me when seen from the profile… An older me…!" Netto gasped.

"And the challenge of this guy was this: the shape of his eyes and face is very alike mine… Which means that… You had them undergo plastic surgery?" Saito tried to guess.

"Good guess, I'll give you that. But wrong anyway."

"Gene alteration, DNA mutation…?"

"Ah! You're getting closer, gnat." Anaya formed a smug smile.

"What else can it be? This can't be a coincidence and they can't be related to us by blood." Netto grumbled.

"They ARE connected to you gnats by blood and genes! If Big Boss was the basis for Solid, Liquid and Solidus then… You gnats are the basis for Twilight and that black-haired mouse!"

"What?" They frowned.

"Che! How dense! You've never seen the _Star Wars_ films or what? Well then! What was the name of _Episode II_?"

"_Attack of the Clones_…" Both replied.

"There! The keyword is there…!" She grinned.

"_Clones_…? _Clone_…? No way. You're trolling us." Netto grumbled.

"You think we lack intelligence?"

"Hmpf! Then tell me what this is."

She suddenly snapped her right hand's index and middle finger to open up a holographic screen displaying a glass cylinder with machines attached to the top and the bottom of it and a greenish fluid filling it: the "fast forward" sign showed up on the NE corner and the video speeded up to show a human fetus forming inside of the fluid which then began to grow at a maddening rate going past the baby stage, the child stage and slowing down as it reached the teen stage: the body began to stabilize and the growth halted: the newly-born human looked up as its eyes remained closed and both gasped upon recognizing a slightly younger Vadous inside of the cylinder: the green liquid began to drain and Vadous coughed as he spat some of it out of his lungs and slowly opened his eyes to look around in a confused manner: the cylinder opened and he slowly stood up to walk out at an erratic pace: Anaya and Izono could be seen coming into the stage from behind and the camera zoomed on Anaya having a psychotic look to her face before the image faded.

"N-no way…" Both were pale by now.

"This is the real stuff! After finding out how to regulate the growth of a prepared ovum and changing its DNA sequence… I had it be exposed to an environment the chemicals of with while being safe to inhale by human lungs like newborns do while pregnancy it speeds up the growth of skin, muscle, blood tissue and bone until it reaches the limit set by the genome's information… They're then implanted with a chip on their brains which allows us to "settle" the idiom basis and knowledge basis for them so their learning process is quick taking barely 12 months!"

"V-Vadous – san… Please tell us that's some Photoshop trick or special effects usage…" Netto nervously looked at him.

"… What use is there to denying reality? That's what tyrants and egoistical people do but I'm neither of them." He dully replied while facing them yet he remained collected.

"It's not like we were lying: we had no reason to speak about it to begin with, so…" Kanou Shade sighed.

"In fact my technology was picked from a closed down Top Secret program by a very secretive Ameroupe government project during the early 90s but which was cancelled because of lack of success. I picked all of the notes and then had their former employees cooperate… I got rid of them afterwards so that only I and Izono knew the truth. And the same process got repeated with those two. Ironically that's something similar to what they did to Solid Snake, Liquid and Solidus yet their technology was more primitive, given how it was the 70s. They needed a surrogate mother to accomplish it…" Anaya grinned and was obviously savoring the whole thing.

"Incidentally! Vadous' DNA… 90% of it is made up from the combination of your DNA strings! The remaining 10% was altered for safety reasons. And also… Regarding ME… 45% of my DNA is made up of you two while another 45% is a combination of both Her Grace and Mr. Izono! And the remaining 10% was altered for safety reasons…" Twilight smirked.

"I tried a more realistic approach with that third damned mouse over there by granting them both of our DNAs up to the 90% mark and thus make him be more like a true heir to us… But who would've thought that this mouse would betray us! I was somewhat expecting that first mouse to do it if he heard of you two that's why I hid the information from them yet they ended up finding it out… And this why Twilight calls them "_kyoudaitachi_" because they are linked to some extent!"

"U-unbelievable…!" Saito gasped.

"Enough chit-chat! Let's get to the point! Twilight! Show them what we've prepared for today's decisive battle!"

"Delighted…"

He pressed a button and revealed five Pulse Transmission System armchairs set around the central armchair: Twilight smirked as he stood up and then turned around to aim for the right armrest's control panel with both hands.

"Plug In! Transmission!"

He left the Copy Roid and entered the armchair's circuitry while Anaya and Izono rushed over to a pair of PTS armchairs and sat down on them to enter the Cyber World: Saito aimed for Netto's Link PET and returned there while the three of them sat down on the remaining armchairs: Netto prepared the PET in the slot designed for it.

"Pulse In!"

Netto closed his eyes and the next moment he was standing inside of a Cyber World which looked like a exact copy of that the "Heart Server" device had used to have: he then looked at his arms to see that he'd gained Rock Man's bodysuit over them: he touched his body and could feel the armor over his body.

"Whoa! Netto – kun… You look… cool, I guess." Rock Man walked up to him from the right and whistled.

"Hmmm? Yeah! I guess so… Oh! A puddle over there… Let's see how I look like, then!"

Netto rushed up to it and looked: he did have Rock Man's bodysuit over his normal clothes but with some design differences: the plating over his shoulders had a pyramid form and aimed the NW and NE, respectively.

The helmet's design was different as well: a bright blue-colored fin-shape piece formed at the sides, emerging from the ear pads' upper edge and extended until the end of the helmet: an arch was drawn over it and the space inside of it had a deeper tonality of blue.

A complicated drawing was imprinted within the forehead and the helmet's front now extended until the start of the nose

His hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.

A pale blue border formed around it and a straight line travelled towards the emblem to form a curve surrounding the lower half of it: the curve ended with a small "spike" drawing pointing downwards.

His forearm design included a thin separation around the elbow: the two combined section formed a hexagon with a green jewel set on its center.

The short section set on the rear half of the elbow was colored navy blue while the rest of the forearm was slightly brighter.

The blue borders travelling down the sides of his upper body ended around the hips: two circular bands of the bright blue color were drawn over them with a small separation between them.

His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms: the soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a thin bright blue line.

The jetpack design had changed a bit, too, and it now included bright blue pieces connecting the upper right and left edges with the body: a curved red line was drawn half-way across it: the rest of the backpack looked identical to how Rock Man's usual form.

"Hello there."

"V-Vadous – san…! No offense, sir, but you look like…"

"Darth Vader, I know. I thought someone would've picked on the irony of my name by now."

Vadous wore body armor made of an unknown grayish compound material: some purple patterns were drawn around it.

He sported a ragged, torn and worn out purple cape attached to the back of his shoulders which spread all the way to the ground but had some centimeters' margin of space.

He lastly carried two elaborated sword sheaths attached to the thick central belt colored black running around his waist.

"Oh! Vader… And Sidious… Then does that mean that Twilight was supposed to be named _Sidier_?" Rock Man tried to guess.

"Dunno. Maybe it wouldn't be so damned obvious."

"Here I am, gentlemen."

"Kanou. Well. No wonder."

Kanou Shade had gained the armor of his Navi over his body yet the arms and legs had some silver-colored patterns travelling down them: the helmet had been designed to allow for a better vision given how the part covering a Navis' eyes had been taken off and the protection over the mouth had been simplified to look like Blues' one.

"Guess we gotta get to the center to fight those three. Twilight will surely aim for you two… The bitch seems to want to settle it with me so you can handle the valet, Kanou."

"There's no room for negotiations here, gentlemen. We must fight and survive… The worse thing which can happen to those two is that they'll lose consciousness, after all." Kanou Shade warned.

"We know. I remember that of Mister Cossack." Netto admitted with a nod of the head.

"And we'll try to weaken Twilight: if we lock up all of his abilities as a Net Navi then he should be powerless and would remain stuck inside of the Copy Roid as long as it has batteries but then he should be transferred to an isolated Cyber World for safe keeping…" Rock Man muttered.

"Alright. Now that's it's settled let's go for it." Vadous nodded.

"The decisive battle is just ahead of us."

"OK!"

They ran on ahead while deleting all Viruses which got on their path: the road began to wind around and they reached a square where they found Stone Man looming over them and chuckling.

"Stone Cube! Be crushed you bunch of bugs!"

"I don't think so, Stone Man! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword! Go!" Rock Man exclaimed as he formed the Program Advance and leapt into the air.

"Wha~t? Muwra~h!"

Rock Man's Dream Sword split Stone Man in two halves and deleted him but then some bats flew out of nowhere at top speed and rammed into Rock Man tossing him into the ground: these bats gave way to Shade Man who suddenly lifted Rock Man with his right arm by gripping his neck and drew out his fangs.

"Mwah, hah, hah. I'll turn you into an efficient "Darkloid", brat!"

"Gun del Sol!"

"Muwro~h!"

Netto had drawn the "Gun del Sol" Battle Chip and attacked Shade Man from behind: Vadous then drew both swords and plunged them into Shade Man from behind cleaving through his body and chest emblem: he uttered a guttural sound and let go of Rock Man who began to charge his Rock Buster.

"Charge… SHOT!"

The blast cleaved through him and Shade Man stepped back in an erratic manner yet he didn't seem to get deleted yet: he tried to say something but the words wouldn't come out.

"I-impossible… I've overcome Time and Space… I was going to remove the eyesore humans from the face of the Earth… The ruler of the "Darkloids", the true inhabitants of the Cyber World…! The true ruler…! Who returned after two usurpers stole MY throne…! I can't have lost to mere humans' puppets…! Guwro~h!"

He began to be deleted and in the end not a single bit or byte of him was left: Rock Man sighed in relief and Netto helped him stand up while Vadous and Kanou Shade remained silent.

"… Let's continue." Vadous broke the silence.

"Roger!"

The group kept on ahead and finally reached the final room where they found Anaya having a glowing gray hexagram was drawn on her helmet's forehead.

She also had a black bodysuit with blood red boots and forearms and a purplish helmet:

"So you made it this far, you mice."

They then spotted Izono having a normal Navi's bodysuit over his body and the standard yellow and green coloring: his design was similar to that of Kanou Shade.

"Heh, heh, heh. Today you die."

And they finally spotted Twilight: his body design was highly reminiscent of both Rock Man's and Vadous' ones.

He had a helmet with a mouth guard (similar to that of Vadous) on: his eyes were visible and it could be seen that they were colored red crimson.

His chest emblem consisted on just two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line: he had two curious shoulder pads which were shaped as two split halves of a diamond: his main body's color was navy blue although the forearms and his boots were colored in purple.

A black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor as well as an add-on to his bodysuit.

"Indeed. Your Grace, if thou allow me…"

"Go for the gnats. The black mouse is mine."

"Then, with thou permission, I'll handle the defective."

"Go for it!"

Twilight chuckled and formed Warp Points underneath everyone's feet thus warping them out of the platform and into a round battleground set some meters apart.

"Hmpf."

The battlegrounds hovered over an aerial image of Angband: smokes were rising and explosions rang out at intervals along with loud roars.

"Look, Hikari Netto and Rock Man… Your allies are trying to defeat the army of Balrogs yet they didn't count that all of them now have plasma weaponry and can drive them into a tight spot… Gothmog is fighting Blues by now and I wouldn't be surprised if Omega and Shirakami are there too… "Copy" Forte must be fighting Phoenix Slayer and Zero is trying to finish the duel of a while ago with my right arm, Black Doom… You were clever in leaving a strong defense force behind yet we'll see if they'll be able to withstand the arrival of the strengthened Balrogs… All is at stake in this decisive day, the 28th of December, 2005… We're so close to the end of the year yet this year will be remembered as an important year! Duo's threat… The "Red Sun Tournament"… Nebula… "Dark Chips"… The Internet take-over… The small-model servers' experiment… "Heart Network" and the detonation of Mt. Fuji… The Cyber City incidents… The erasure of the "Cybeasts"… The campaign of terror led by the "Witch – Queen of Angmar"… And the actions of my "Twilight Syndicate"… Yet the year 2004 was also important! The WWW and the "Dream Virus"… The "Professor" and the "Zero Virus"… "Gospel"… The resurgence of the WWW… "Proto" and the loss of Rock Man… Heh, heh, heh."

"What's your ultimate goal apart from letting your Boss destroy the younger generations of the world? To rule the world?" R

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not the idiotic type who seeks vain goals! Look at that Shade Man who came from another world and who believed that he and just some Net Navis would be able to defeat all the Net Navis and humans in the Earth… He died as a fool! No! My only goal is that set on my genes: terror! The spread of terror! Terror, fear, mistrust, suspicion…! Kin-strife…!" He exclaimed.

"Kin-strife…? Civil war…?" Netto gasped.

"If it ends like that then I don't care: let humans be driven by their vanity and arrogance… They are egoistic creatures to begin with!"

"What?"

"The patent wars, stock market speculation, corruption in the governments, secretive deals, bribes, blackmail, extortion, abduction, hijack, robbery…!"

"We know that we're not perfect but you can't judge the whole of humanity just by picking around 4% of it!" Rock Man protested.

"Whatever! Human nature is predictable. The right-wing parties, obsessed with the past and with their current power, afraid of change, trying to discredit their opponents… And the left-wing parties, claiming change for good and trying to break free…! Matter and anti-matter: when they enter in contact they negate each other and annihilate! Such is the conflict between the humans… They destroy each other!"

"I guess there's no talking with this guy." Netto muttered.

"Guess not. We'll have to put him down." Rock Man muttered.

"Oh? Put _ME_ down?" He taunted.

"If we could defeat all those Navis and ugly things along with besting our friends in competition matches then you can't be that different. You might be as strong as either Forte but…" Netto argued back.

"As strong as either Forte…? Wrong! Far more powerful! And now I'll teach you the reason. It's very simple, really… I can use an array of devastating techniques which can defeat you in the blink of an eye: I did imitate Vadous in that but… You can't even begin to imagine my power!"

"We'll halt you in the name of our friends and companions! Showdown!"

"Last Battle, Set!"

"In!"

"Come! You fake prophets!"

"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"

Both yelled as they shot their attack at Twilight yet he just laughed…


	46. Chapter 46: Personal fight

**Chapter 46: Personal fight**

03:13 AM (Norway Time), Tuesday December the 28th…

"… Magma Buster!"

"Hell's Buster!"

"Black Sword!"

"Z – Saber!"

"I'll prove my superiority to you, "Copy" Forte!"

"That remains to be seen!"

"Die, Zero!"

"Look who is talking."

"Oi, Forte! We're going on ahead to try to get to the furnace. Good luck and don't give the guy a break!"

"I know cha can beat that black punk a thousand times in a row, Zero, so go for it."

"Thanks."

"Hmpf! Gothmog will crush you insects before you can even come close to the furnace!"

Phoenix Slayer and "Copy" Forte were interchanging rounds of buster fire inside of a cavern somewhere in the depths of Angband: Black Doom and Zero were continuing their earlier fight too while Shirakami, Blues and Omega rushed on forward: the sounds of fighting in other parts of the subterranean complex rang out as well: Black Doom looked confident and so did Phoenix Slayer.

"I'd rather say Gothmog will have to get into Windows XP's recycle bin and remain there." Omega taunted as he ran out of the room.

"Yeah. It wouldn't surprise me either. Enough chit-chat: we gotta hurry while Rock Man is fighting Twilight if that's what he's doing."

"I got a signal from Boss which confirmed it… Anyway! Let's rush outta here! Later, guys!"

"Magma Overload!"

"Darkness Overload!"

"Hrah!"

"Hah!"

Phoenix Slayer shot a concentrated beam of reddish energy at "Copy" Forte who countered with his own attack: both met and merged into an unstable sphere of raw purple and red energy which imploded and its mass ejection pushed both of them apart while inflicting some superficial damage to them.

"Magma Arm Blade!"

"Dark Arm Blade!"

Both drew their blades and began to clash against each other without wielding to each other: they pushed forward and backwards yet they wouldn't make any progress at all.

"Damn it. Stay still so I can kill you, Zero!"

"That's my motto. Go join your fallen Mistress. Aren't you ashamed that you didn't fall before her?"

"Che! Smart-mouthed guy…!"

Black Doom was trying to hit Zero by warping around like mad but Zero was having no trouble at all to block each of his incoming attacks: Black Doom was getting annoyed but Zero wasn't surprised at all by his outbursts of anger yet he did lay a verbal trap for him.

"I guess she will kick you around a thousand times for behaving like you have during these four months." Zero taunted.

"T-this JERK!" Black Doom grumbled.

"Bite me, imitator."

"You asked for it! Death Shock!"

"Weak. My turn."

"Damn it."

Zero blocked the energy shockwave released by Black Doom and then tried to counter only for Black Doom to block him just in time: Zero kept on pushing him and Black Doom struggled.

"Magma Breaker!"

"Earth Breaker!"

Both of their attacks merged in another unstable fusion and imploded to blow them away yet again: both panted and tackled each other using their right shoulders: "Copy" Forte tried to deliver a kick but Phoenix Slayer intercepted him and neither of them got to hit the other.

"I'll defeat you! I'm clearly above you! Come! Power!"

"Damn it."

A crack opened and revealed an underground flow of magma from which Phoenix Slayer drew some which formed the shape of a flaming phoenix around his body: a phoenix's pitched shriek rang out and Phoenix Slayer flew upwards to then dive for "Copy" Forte who quickly left a _Kawarimi_ on his place and jumped over him thus making him fail his attack.

"Tank Cannon!"

The blast got bounced off by the flames and hit the ceiling, opening a hole on it and revealing a tunnel crossing over this room: "Copy" Forte rushed inside of it and began to run down it while Phoenix Slayer disengaged the flames and began to chase him.

"Mwah, hah, hah! This is Mustafar and I'm gonna burn you to ashes, pale imitator!" He laughed.

"Oh how lovely." "Copy" Forte grumbled.

"Burn them all!"

"Hah. So that guy ended up being a chicken, eh?" Black Doom taunted Zero.

"I don't care: it might be part of his strategy for all I know. Omega: what's the status?" He didn't give a cent for it.

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh."

"Old Gothmog is being annoying in blocking our path." Omega grumbled over the line.

"He doesn't want to play by the rules either." Shirakami reported as well with obvious annoyance on his voice.

"Obviously." Blues fumed.

"Now I'd like to have a spray to get rid of them." Enzan sarcastically muttered over the line as well.

"Who wouldn't?" Barrel drily asked.

"This is Blood Shadow… We've located a control signal for all Balrogs coming from machine deeper inside which we're going to try to locate so hang in there! If we disable it all Balrogs will be immobilized and we can defea them for good!" Blood Shadow reported.

"Mwah, hah, hah. My sword will crush it into a heap of metal. Let's go, Bloody~ Shadowy~!" Sigma chuckled.

"Sigma. If you don't behave Boss is gonna get annoyed. He hasn't been in a good mood at all lately." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"I blame his canned black coffee." Omega giggled.

"Hmpf. Then you blame me too? I drink that coffee too." Barrel sarcastically asked.

"Nope. Meijin – chan put the elixir of eternal fortune on it, ya see~! Right, Gate Boy?" Omega giggled.

"Gate _Man_! Don't degrade me, you idiot!" Gate Man grumbled.

"Did say something, Mr. President?"

"I give up." Gate Man sighed.

"Don't give up so quickly, Gate Boy~!"

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh. Wro~h!"

"Damn. That fucking whip is everywhere and there's almost no room to maneuver at all!" Shirakami cursed.

"I'm starting to be fed up too. The guy seems to ignore my plasma rounds even though they do damage him and regenerates the flames which I have to suck off and transform… I need both of you to cover me while I spend the 17 seconds necessary for the transformation… This guy does have brains as much as I hate to admit it." Omega muttered.

"There!"

"Oof! Hmpf! Is that all?"

"Damn. You don't feel pain or what?"

"Maybe."

Black Doom had managed to drive his sword into the right side of Zero's chest yet he didn't seem to feel the pain of the attack or be affected by it to Black Doom's rising irritation.

"Whack!"

"How's that?"

Black Doom spotted how a beaten-up Phoenix Slayer fell into the ground from the hole in the ceiling and "Copy" Forte dropped down while panting yet still standing despite his burn marks and wounds.

"It was a close-quarters thing but I did it!" "Copy" Forte grinned.

"Damn it." Black Doom cursed.

"Fuck. These jerks got in the way!" Blood Shadow cursed over the radio all of a sudden.

"Be good kids and go nap!" Sigma taunted.

"Hah. You won't have it easy to get to the central computer! We'll see to that, my word!" Black Doom laughed.

"You. Look ahead of you when fighting."

"Whack!"

Zero delivered a kick to Black Doom's face and his sword got expelled from his body's wound: he touched it with the left hand and healed it up to then draw his sword and hit Black Doom's right knee again for the second time in the same day: Black Doom yelped but got punched straight in the face by Zero and plummeted into the ground with Zero looming over him in a victorious pose.

"I win." He merely announced.

"Not so fast! Area Steal! Bug Bomb!"

"Ugh! Hah! Bugs and whatever… I was a Virus! They're no big deal for my antibodies."

Black Doom warped and threw the "Bug Bomb" at Zero but he merely seemed to smug smile at the fact because it had no visible effect on him given his status: he signaled Black Doom with his left hand's middle finger so as to taunt him and Black Doom threw a "Mega Energy Bomb" at Zero who bounced it back with the sword as if it was tennis ball: they began something akin to a tennis game and finally the bomb got split in half by Black Doom's blade thus exploding in front of his face: Zero plunged his sword into the right side of Black Doom's upper chest.

"A blade for a blade!" He exclaimed.

"Clever damned guy!" Black Doom cursed.

"Ugh… My head… It's spinning… Who am I…? What am I doing here…? I fight alone or… Do I belong to someone else…?" Phoenix Slayer groaned as he began to wake up and clutched his forehead jewel which had several cracks on it.

"Find that out yourself." "Copy" Forte challenged before he ran off through the room's exit.

"Damn it! I haven't settled the score yet, you fake! Come back here and fight like man you damned idiot!" He roared as he chased him out of the room as well.

"Guess the program still works…" Black Doom muttered as he kicked Zero away and ignored the wound.

"But not for much longer, I'd rather say." Zero countered.

"… Darkness Overload!"

"Wroh? Wroh! Wroh, wroh, wroh…"

"Damn it. This jerk bounced it off."

"You're mine!" Phoenix Slayer roared as he came closer.

"Damn it. What does it take to keep you still, dude?" "Copy" Forte exasperatedly wondered aloud.

"Deletion is the only thing which will halt ME!"

"I don't wanna delete you and that ain't why I came here today either, dude. Get a hold of your head!" He growled.

"Too late! Magma Breaker!"

"Che. Earth Breaker!"

"Look at how you fall into ruin!" Black Doom taunted.

He opened a holographic screen displaying how "Copy" Forte and Phoenix Slayer were fighting atop a three-leveled room: Omega, Blues and Shirakami could be seen trying to attack Gothmog who had several wounds on its body yet it didn't seem to be tiring out anytime soon: the three fighting Navis looked exasperated.

"Damn! Eat plasma! Why won't that sword or that whip melt upon contact with the plasma?" Omega cursed.

"Easy. They have a magnetic field which breaks down plasma into several fragments and then expels them around! We learnt the lesson!" Black Doom chuckled.

"So that's why you wanted that reactor so badly! You knew you'd have to find a way of countering my weapons!" Omega growled.

"Correct… Like this!"

"Muwra~rgh!"

"Bwah, hah, hah, hah! Feel the pain of these 100,000 volts!"

Black Doom suddenly clashed his blade with Zero's and began to electrocute him: he laughed in a psychotic tone of voice but got suddenly shot by a Tank Cannon attack from behind.

"Uack!"

"Grand… I owe you one, huh."

"Yessir. But don't mind it, _Danna_."

Grand had showed up from the southern entrance while looking like he'd been in a hard battle but holding the smoking Tank Cannon: Zero sounded relieved to see him while Black Doom growled and quickly hovered into the air while roaring and building up energy.

"Phew! Alright! We're getting close to the computer controlling the Balrogs so… Hang in there, guys!" Blood Shadow rallied.

"Nothing can stop us now!" Sigma exclaimed.

The screen showed them running down a corridor filled with wiring across the walls and ceiling leading somewhere: several knocked out Uruk – Hai and Viruses could be seen scattered around it.

"Damn. The two power houses…! But Gothmog's different… The guy has a will! A self! And it's not dependent on the computer terminal either! So you still have to defeat the guy!" Black Doom laughed.

"Like it was impossible… We'll find a way around!" Zero grumbled with rising annoyance.

"Alright! I'm going to give them a hand! The others will be coming by soon enough so hang in there, _Danna_!"

"Alright. Don't do anything reckless either."

"Yessir. Later, _Danna_!"

Grand ran out while Zero and Black Doom began to interchange kicks and punches at the same time "Copy" Forte and Phoenix Slayer resorted to mere tackling, kicking, punching and trying to bite each other: the other Navis were busy enough avoiding the destructive attacks of Gothmog which didn't seem to get tired at all.

"Alright! Mugen Vulcan! Fire~!"

"Hmwro~h!"

The Mugen Vulcan hit one of the opened wounds and damaged the body of Gothmog which instinctively tried to cover the left shoulder but Omega used that moment to pick the whip and slice it into several small and useless fragments: Gothmog grumbled and brought down both fists into the ground to make it shake and open up cracks: fire began to flow out and it strengthened its flames.

"Damn it." Grand hissed.

"There's no end to this…?" Omega cursed.

"I've been analyzing this guy's power and hacking into the databases of Angband to try to find any report… There are several yet I have to decode them…" Obihiro muttered.

"I'm trying to help too!" Urakama added.

"Good. Do your best: we'll try to find a way around this bulk. If only we could cool this place down and extinguish its fires and heat then they'd lose the field power bonus…" Blues muttered.

"But Freeze Man alone won't be enough: he can't come close to this place anyway. We'd need to find a way to break into the real-world server room and alter the settings or else try to see if Twilight had a system to regulate them from his hideout wherever it is at." Enzan pointed out.

"No – one is invincible." Barrel simply sentenced.

"Oh yeah. That's so true, _Danna_."

"Let go of me you idiot!"

"Go away, you pyromaniac!"

"Pyromaniac your aunt!"

"We Net Navis don't have aunts, you nit-witted guy!"

Both "Copy" Forte and Phoenix Slayer kept on kicking, punching and biting each other while rolling across the circular ground: Gothmog laughed at the scene while it kept on giving trouble to the other fighters trying to attack it from multiple spots: Phoenix Slayer looked up and directed an annoyed glare at Gothmog which said it all so Gothmog shut up and kept on hitting the ground with its hands using their strength, mass and speed to shake the room.

"Decryption 95% complete…! Another few seconds and we'll find out the weakness of this guy!" Obihiro whispered to Omega.

"Good! Oi! You freak! Bite me!" Omega taunted.

"Muwro~h!"

"Yikes. This thing's turning faster. Guess it's a bad idea to try to piss it off on purpose…" Omega muttered as he jumped into the air and dodged the incoming hit.

"Alright, Zero! Enough fooling around… It's time to settle the score and only one of us will make it through this day! Come!" Black Doom taunted.

"You asked for it, Black Doom!" Zero shot back.

"This smug-faced jerk…!" Phoenix Slayer yelled.

"Thus arson-loving jerk…!" "Copy" Forte growled.

"My, my." Shirakami wasn't impressed in the least.

"Come! You freak!" Omega challenged by drawing his gun.

"MUWRO~H! WROH, WROH, WRO~H! HURO~H!"


	47. Chapter 47: Repulsive past

**Chapter 47: Repulsive past**

11:38 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 28th…

"… You fool! You think that with some ripped off tricks you'd be able to defeat a Queen?"

"Queen? Come on. You're no queen and Fortune wasn't a queen per se either despite Vamp's manner of calling her."

"HMPF! Damned clever guy!"

"Blame your own ego!"

"… You miserable mouse! You bring shame to Her Grace!"

"Don't tell me. Then you shouldn't have given birth to me in the first place, don't you think so?"

"Che! Fooling around like always…!"

"That's because you don't admit that you don't have a good point as counter to mine…"

Vadous and Kanou Shade were confronting Anaya and Izono within the Cyber World while exchanging shots and sword clashes: each pair was in a separate platform parallel to each other and about ten meters south of the platform in which Netto, Rock Man and Twilight were fighting: yet each of the two duets was focused on their respective adversaries.

"So! When?" Anaya taunted.

"Ever since you showed it to me, Anaya. I felt a climbing repulsion forming inside of me ever since that day… I couldn't understand how humans could make such harm to young children who were just starting to develop their sense of "self"… And you destroyed their minds and bodies just for something immaterial in return!" Vadous hissed.

"Immaterial? Hah! You son of a bitch say money's immaterial?"

"No! I don't mean money! I mean lust! Greed! Hunger of power! Arrogance! Those are immaterial concepts!"

"Greed and whatever! I was above those mortals!"

"Ah? And now you're gonna claim you're immortal."

"Of course I am! A Queen is immortal!"

"Yeah? I don't think Elisabeth II of King Land is immortal or Queen Sofia of Spain is either…" Vadous skeptically replied.

"Che! I meant that their name persists even centuries after their age and their tale has come to an end, you barbarian!"

"Barbarian? Hah. If I was a barbarian I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't have gained the trust of the "Committee" and I wouldn't have been able to help them break away from your repulsive extortion…" Vadous simply replied.

"Extortion… Hah! You bastards always say the same! They were dependant on me and only me!"

"You cut off their other sources they'd been using for over three decades already." Vadous countered.

"Che! Know – it – all fool!"

"Oh yeah? You're inventing those insults without thinking them properly yet they're all vain and easily refutable." Vadous calmly argued back.

"Ki~h! Shaddup!"

"I won't."

"I'll delete you!" She threatened.

"I'm not a real Navi. And the system is designed to return me to my real world body if my HP values fall too low anyway."

"Nothing impresses you or what?"

"No. I'm skeptical. Sometimes it's good to be skeptical and question things twice or thrice. That's how we managed to advance in the investigation of McEdelson's death which looked like it was already solved. We insisted and the whole thing became exposed." He drily explained.

"Fuck you."

"Don't tell me." He didn't beat an eyebrow.

"Feel the fear!"

"The fear of _what_? Huh?" He challenged.

"The fear of death!" She improvised.

"Whatever. You're not a fighter and never will be a good one yet I've trained in several skills. This still keeps on because you were busy trying to set up a dramatic imagery to try to distract us but that doesn't impress us because we expected it." Vadous told her.

He glanced downwards to see imagery of fighting going on inside of Angband's caves and corridors yet he looked back up to halt an attempt from Anaya to attack him with two swords: Vadous calmly used his to hold her back.

"You Darth Vader wannabe! Try using the Dark Side!" She taunted with a smug smile.

"Hmpf." He was unimpressed.

"So? How did you feel when you finally discovered the reason behind the name I granted you? Did you feel rabidly, overwhelmingly and vehemently disgusted? You wanted to discharge the outburst of anger into whoever was around?" She challenged.

"Who knows?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Che. This ain't fun."

"Fighting isn't supposed to be fun when you're staking the future of the younger generations." Vadous brought up.

"You're no fun."

"Who said I was fun? Just because Omega and Sigma tend to come up with ridiculous humor that doesn't mean it's an extension of my personality. They came up with that on their own."

"Damned Hamlet – like speaker!" She cursed.

"Ah. You could tell that one to Captain Haddock and he'd add it to his roster of swear words." He sarcastically suggested.

"Hmpf!" She tried to play the unimpressed.

"Unlike me you fail at that, Anaya."

"Ice Queen! You sunnuva!"

"How many times do I have to repeat that? You're no Ice Queen and you're a mere mortal with delusions. A tyrant." He began to sound annoyed to have to say it the whole time.

"Bow before me~!" She yelled.

"Tank Cannon!"

"Uack! Damn you! You male!"

"Hmpf."

"You rotten corpse!" She yelped at him.

"Ah? But I am alive. You must be mistaking me for a _zombie_ in a horror film to begin with." He pointed out.

"Ki~h! I'm about to strangle someone~!" She yelled.

"Strangle your ego." He challenged.

"Shaddup! You masked freak!"

"This isn't a mask. It's called a helmet and you know it. Your arguments are moot to begin with, Anaya." He corrected with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I'm gonna squish your skull with a hammer! Gaia Hammer 3! The end, you defective Jango Feet reject! Hra~h!"

"Unending Cyclone!"

"Fuck!"

Anaya tried to hit him with the Gaia Hammer but he merely waved the right hand to form a strengthened Tornado Battle Chip which hit her several times and intercepted her attack intention.

"If only you hadn't changed the frequency of the chip implant I could control you like a puppet…!" She hissed.

"Hmpf. I suspected as much so that's why I changed it after I left your facility once my training was complete. I wouldn't become your puppet no matter what." Vadous coolly shot back.

"Akatsunami~!"

"Thunder Ball 3."

"Kya~rgh! YOU FUCKING SCREWING REJECT!"

"Hmpf. Tell that to some street thugs." Vadous kept on being both cool and unimpressed with her attempts.

"Cyclone!"

"Burning Body."

Vadous ran into the "Cyclone" using the "Burning Body" thus setting it on fire and the flames leapt into Anaya's Navi frame: she cursed and managed to put them out somehow.

"Cousin? I've got a little idea… But I need some time to weaken this opponent before we can pull it off… Keyword… Duet…" Kanou Shade whispered into his radio.

"Duet… Alright. Gotcha. I'll buy you some time. Mosquito 3!"

"Grah! You stole HP off me!"

"Obviously. Come!" Vadous challenged.

"Break Hammer! DIE~!"

"Metal Shield!"

"Fucking shit!"

"... Count Bomb 3! Take this, you disgraced pawn!"

"Disgraced pawn? You sure are fond of vain words, Izono."

"Shaddup! Be blown up along with the other dog!"

"Invisible."

"Fuck! I failed."

Kanou Shade was battling Izono who tried using a Count Bomb against im but Kanou Shade hid his hide using the Invisible Battle Chip to Izono's growing annoyance.

"You reject! You were supposed to become the perfect heir! How could you backstab us like that? Huh?" Izono growled.

"AIn't it obvious? Having me see that… That horrible action… It shattered all of my beliefs and I had to question myself once again. What would the right thing to do? And I knew the answer: to have society punish you for trying to destroy the younger generations…!" Kanou Shade announced as he pointed his right hand's middle finger at him.

"Damn it all! Why wouldn't you understand? Those were but merchandise! Mere merchandise! You judge merchandise just by looking at their boxes or labels?" He growled.

"MERCHANDISE? YOU PSYCHO! THOSE WERE HUMAN BEINGS! REAL HUMAN BEINGS! YOU WERE STEALING THEIR HUMANITY! YOU WERE DESTROYING A GENERATION! DESTROYING THE FUTURE!" Kanou Shade exploded into pure rage.

"What!" The twins (ten meters ahead) had turned around upon hearing his yells and looked horrified.

"True. That's why we had to bring them down! Could you allow someone as mad as this man run free?" Kanou Shade asked them.

"NO!" Both immediately replied.

"See? See? What are they? Merchandise too? Or you'll say they're interlopers instead? You've gone mad, Izono."

"MAD? ME? How dare you!" He roared.

"Hmpf! Most madmen won't admit to their madness but there's a proof which over 90% of humanity will recognize!"

"They're mere blind fools! There, preoccupied with their little stuff like "the bus is late" or "too many traffic lights" or "too many taxes"… They don't realize things! They'll listen with one ear but then forget whatever you told them…" Izono shot back.

"Izono~!" Kanou Shade roared.

"What. The dog wants to bite me?" He taunted.

"Dynamite 3! Stealth Mine 3! RC Goro 3!"

"What! Uwra~h!"

"How's this combo for a change?" Kanou Shade taunted.

He'd used the "Dynamite 3" to toss grenades into the enemy's terrain, then made Izono step into the Stealth Mine 3 and lastly the RC Goro 3 let out a thunder from above which deleted one square of the terrain: Izono growled and jumped like a lion towards Kanou Shade but he intercepted him by using the knee to hit his stomach area and momentarily stun him so he kicked him straight in the face and dropped him into the ground with a loud THUD sound.

"You're forgetting who the fighter really is." He icily hissed.

"Fuck you. I guess I gotta get serious too! Long Blade! Wide Blade! I'm going to slice you like I was _Jack the Ripper_!"

"Lock On 3! Buster Sword!"

A small "Satella" showed up and locked on Izono to machine-gun him while Kanou Shade drew the "Buster Sword" and hit Izono with it thus delivering further damage.

"Buster Punch! Buster Bomb!"

"Muwa~rgh!"

"Learn your place you psycho!" Kanou Shade roared.

"Damn it. Hadn't it been for your treason those two interlopers would've been turned into hi-quality merchandise only for the use of Her Grace by now…!" He grumbled.

Kanou Shade suddenly kicked his nose and broke it: although Izono couldn't bleed like that the damage did force him to recoil: Kanou Shade violently seized him from behind and used a _judo_ technique to throw the guy into the ground and then attacked him with a Super Vulcan Battle Chip: Izono growled and managed to stand up while drawing a Flame Sword but Kanou Shade drew an Aqua Sword to cancel each other: Izono tried an Elec Sword but Kanou Shade expected him with a Bamboo Sword which also cancelled his attack attempt: they then pushed towards each other but Kanou Shade suddenly gained newfound strength and had Izono crash with his back into the ground: Kanou Shade drew the Paladin Sword which he aimed at him.

"You madmen! Don't you realize that if they hadn't been there back when Duo's comet was about to hit Earth then the world would've been destroyed? Don't you realize it was them who stopped human race from destroying each other under the effects of "Heart Network"? They stopped Proto and the first Dream Virus from starting wars across the globe too…! And they prevented the mass spreading of bugs across the Cyber World too…!" Kanou Shade listed.

"Hah. You're the fool. Dr. Regal would've taken control of it and used it to rule over this decadent world while the "Palace" travelled across the Solar System. No big deal. The chaos would've favored us and we'd been able to gain more merchandise with larger profits." He countered.

"YOU MADMAN! IF ROCK MAN BARELY DEFEATED DUO DO YOU THINK LASER MAN WOULD'VE FARED BETTER? NO! WE'D ALL BE DEAD! YOU MADMAN!" Kanou Shade roared.

"That guy's lost it!" Netto grumbled.

"Totally. They should close him somewhere and try to psychoanalyze him _a la _Sigmund Freud… This guy can't be healed." Rock Man grumbled.

"_A la _Sigmund Freud, eh? Not a bad motto…" Twilight taunted with a smug smile.

"Shaddup." Both grumbled back at him.

"Alright, Kanou! Let's go for it!"

"Roger!"

Kanou Shade dragged Izono to the warp point and back to the central section while Vadous dragged Anaya there: both enemies stood up and tried to pose as confident but they were rather tired by now.

"Program Advance! Colonel SP, Navi Scout, Blues! Twin Leaders! FIRE AT WILL!"

Colonel and Blues formed into the field and quickly attacked both villains without giving them a break: they collapsed into the ground and they were automatically logged out while both men panted and sighed in relief upon seeing the end result.

"It was hard but we did it. Twilight's left but I'm sure those two will be able to handle the guy." Vadous muttered.

"I guess so too."

"This is Blood Shadow! We've disabled the computer yet as Black Doom said Gothmog is not linked to the computer… We're going to assist the guys in fighting that thing!" Blood Shadow reported.

"The Goth guy ended in the morgue!" Sigma laughed.

"That was lame." Blood Shadow scolded him.

"Yeah, Brad Shad?"

"Sigma… Let's not start this again. I'm not in the mood after having to hear to such a madman." Vadous fumed.

"Yikes! S-sorry, Boss…"

"Let them be, Cousin. Some humor can help relieve the stress and make them feel fresher and readier." Kanou Shade told him.

"Well… If you say so…"

"For example: have you seen Mr. Higure fight for the pride of his store using a mop and a broom?"

"Yeah. The other day when he suddenly showed up inside of the Science Labs' Command Room… It looked so ridiculous, really. But I guess it's better than a _katana_ fight anyway…" Vadous muttered.

"It sure is, _shachou_, 'cause I sponsored it!" Omega joked over the radio channel.

"Lovely. What else?" He rolled his eyes.

"Fatman is missing the bomb-proof suit and the skates."

"Huh? What?" He frowned.

"Ahem, ahem. _Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty_… One of the members of the former Navy SEAL's Dead Cell unit… Emperor of Demolition or so he calls himself… Somewhat mad too… He goes around with that kind of suit and uses skates…" Laika clarified by clearing his throat.

"Yessir. His motto is "_laugh and grow fat_"!"

"He had to be a Burger King fan then." Vadous guessed with some sarcasm to his voice.

"Or rather… A Burger Queen fan." Twilight called out while chuckling and sounding amused.

"Oh. Ignore him." Vadous told Kanou Shade.

"It's better to ignore bullies anyway so they realize the vanity of their actions to begin with…" Kanou Shade shrugged.

"Well then! Hikari Netto! Rock Man! Time to reach a serious conclusion to this little quarrel… You're going to learn that it's no good to get in the way of adults! And pay for it with your bodies! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Do you think we'll lose? Let's go! This isn't over yet, Rock Man!"

"It ain't over yet, Netto – kun! Here we go~!"


	48. Chapter 48: Hero's Light

**Chapter 48: Hero's Light**

11:57 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 28th…

"… Mwah, hah, hah! Vicious Flames!"

"Tsunami!"

"Custom Bolt!"

"Is that all? How disappointing!"

"Damn. There's no harming this guy or what?"

"There's gotta be a trick somewhere!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. The end!"

"Coming? The Ultimate Attack…?"

"Let's use the defensive combo… NOW!"

"Chaos…"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura! Slot In!"

Both Netto and Rock Man kept on fighting Twilight while ignoring their wounds yet all attacks aimed at him seemed to be absorbed then outputted as extra power for his own attacks: he suddenly spread his arms wide as energy began to build up around his body and he then aimed the hands to aim for each other as he formed a black spheroid of energy: both combatants used the Holy Panel plus Dream Aura combination to get ready for what Twilight had store.

"…Destruction!"

He suddenly tossed the spheroid into the air and imploded thus releasing a huge amount of mass and energy pushing both of them backwards towards the southern edge of the platform yet they suffered no damage thanks to the Holy Panel and Dream Aura combination: the energy shaped into a black tornado which began to push everything away from it instead of sucking them in: Twilight laughed like a madman while Nettto and Rock Man were trying to resist.

"Damn! What power!"

"… "Dark Power"… All of his power is just that… "Dark Power"…! If only we could destroy it…! Or nullify it…!" Rock Man muttered.

"Of course! Django! We gotta use Django's power!" Netto suddenly realized while gasping.

"It was so obvious, really…! Alright… That will help us get past this stage yet we should try to destroy that tornado in the first place… Mega Energy Bomb!"

"Mega Energy Bomb! Eat this!"

Both threw their Mega Energy Bombs Battle Chips at the tornado and impacted it thus breaking it down and exposing Twilight who'd drawn two swords and suddenly jumped across the air while heading for them with the swords aiming for their bodies.

"Battle Chip, Flame Sword!"

"Battle Chip, Elec Sword!"

They managed to block Twilight's incoming attack with both swords and the Flame Sword melted one of the sword's blades on the contact point thus breaking it into two pieces: Twilight shrugged and backed up while chuckling.

"I'll soon have you enter a living _Naraku_…!" He chuckled.

"Like we're gonna let you…!" Netto hissed.

"Your masters have gone down: give it up, Twilight!" Rock Man challenged him by signaling him with the right hand's middle finger.

"Give it up? Me? Hah, hah, hah… How foolish! I'd be putting to shame my creators… No! I'll fight to the end! And I'll destroy all of you who stand in Her Grace's way so that I can start anew! Let there be chaos!"

"This guy's gone nuts too." Netto grumbled.

"Totally."

"Alright. I'll do the Cross-Over and you do the Pile Driver. We should synchronize our attacks so they do the highest possible amount of damage to the guy." Netto whispered.

"Roger."

"Whatever you plot is futile! No – one can rival me in power and intelligence not even those two lab mice!"

"Who are you calling lab mice?" Vadous grumbled.

"Che. And you claim to be smart." Kanou Shade fumed.

"Program Advance! Django, Django V2, Django V3! Crossover!"

"Program Advance! Gun del Sol 3, Gun del Sol 3, Django SP!"

"GO~!"

Django formed behind Twilight and began to attack him with the Gun del Sol while Netto bombarded Twilight with his shots: both then drew swords and formed a cross in the shape of the Alphabet letter "X" thus trapping Twilight in the midst of it.

"Here goes!"

The two Pile Driver generators formed in front and behind Twilight who was still recovering from the earlier Program Advance.

"_Taiyo_~!" Rock Man yelled.

The generators turned on and shot two synchronized beams of solar energy at Twilight's body from the front and behind: Twilight roared as the blackness surrounding his body faded away and a large evil "face" formed in the air: Rock Man and Netto jumped towards it.

"Gun del Sol 3!" Both exclaimed.

Their combined attack was more than enough to destroy the cluster of "Dark Power" while Twilight collapsed into his knees, panting, yet he managed to stand up somehow and chuckle.

"You caught me off-guard… But it isn't over yet…!"

"It'll soon be!"

"You've shot your most powerful attack and we've survived all of the others. That paralyzing program didn't work against our defenses so you're rather powerless by now. And I can see that your body strength has dropped considerably." Rock Man calmly shot back.

"Shut up…! Shut up…! SHUT UP!"

He suddenly shot electrical bolts from his hands' fingers which hit both combatants and electrocuted them: they yelled in pain while Twilight laughed like a madman.

"I'm a Sith! A Sith Lord! And you're nothing more than neophyte Jedis to begin with! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!" He laughed.

"Grah… We won't let you get away with it…! Saito – niisan…! We're always linked, right?" Netto asked Saito.

"Yeah… Like Grandpa said… We're always linked…!"

"So let's draw out our full power…" Netto began.

"…and defeat the evil heart!" Saito finished.

Both suddenly started to glow with white and cyan light while the electricity seemed to stop affecting them: in fact Twilight collapsed again on his knees while having seemingly overdone it: he managed to rise again although his balance was pretty bad.

"Let's combine each other's power…" Netto muttered.

"…into one!" Saito exclaimed.

"It ain't just "our" power… It's…" Netto added.

"…everyone's power!" Saito announced.

"Shaddup! What rubbish! Power is dependent on your flesh! You must use it for yourself to dominate others!" Twilight exclaimed.

"This guy's turning into a Sidious wannabe… You two! Finish the guy and put an end to his evil plots!" Vadous called out.

Netto and Rock Man just nodded in agreement and began to form white and cyan spheres of energy on their Rock Busters which then merged into a larger one: they looked at each other and nodded before facing forward: Twilight was roaring and rushing towards them while having drawn the swords again.

"DIE~! YOU ALL DIE~!" He roared.

"CHARGE SHOT!"

The spheroid turned into a stream of energy which hit Twilight's chest emblem and reformed into the spheroid before starting to diminish in size as it got absorbed and blue light travelled across his body from the inside including his face, mouth and eyes: he roared and dropped the swords while the energy kept on expanding across him: it began to recede and it finally disappeared but by now his armor had mostly been deleted and some of his skin was exposed: he dropped into the ground and lied there, face-down, while a lingering silence formed in the area.

"We… won?" Netto wondered.

"… Yeah. We won." Saito merely replied.

"Phew… I'm beaten… This guy was a walking tank!" Netto groaned and sat on the ground.

"No wonder…"

"Good job." Vadous congratulated them as he warped into the platform along with Kanou Shade.

"This man will end up in the Navi Internment. But there's no danger because your attack has eliminated all "Dark Power" from him upon which he was so dependent… He's too weak to fight anymore… How the mighty have fallen…" Kanou Shade muttered as he looked at Twilight.

"Now only Angband is left…" Netto muttered.

"It's up to our friends. But they'll win too…" Saito replied.

The four of them nodded in approval…

04:09 AM (Norway Time)…

"… I can't feel my Master's signature! What happened?"

"He's lost. Give it up, Black Doom. You'll go make him company in the Navi Internment."

"Navi Internment, me? No! I'll firstly die than be reduced to such humiliation and reunite with my Mistress, the "Witch – Queen of Angmar" there, on the Otherworld!"

"How stubborn!"

"Whatever! But I've done a great labor: I shall be rewarded! I'll make you be a bald guy before that!"

"Damn."

Zero was battling Black Doom who apparently wouldn't just give it up and grumbling aloud: he risked a glance at the holographic screen to see Phoenix Slayer and "Copy" Forte still on their close-quarters fight while Gothmog looked rather beaten and barely able to stand up: the monster growled and looked like it wouldn't go down sans a fight too.

"Take this! And this! And this one too! I'll go down fighting and in glory like a _samurai_~!" Black Doom suddenly seemed to gain newfound strength as he delivered an array of sword attacks to Zero.

"Huh! Damn. And here I thought this was coming to an end but the end won't come so easily…! Huh? Who are those…?"

Zero looked behind Black Doom and spotted two figures half-hidden in an alcove which were apparently looking at him.

"Fight. For those you believe in." A manly voice commanded.

"Believe in yourself and realize everyone is backing you up. You're not alone." A girl's voice told him.

"You're right. Let's finish this!"

"Come! You rotten root of me!"

"You've asked for it! Hrah! Hah! Hrah!"

"Is that all? That won't be enough!"

Zero began to counter the attacks but Black Doom was not making it easy for Zero to land his blows anywhere given how Black Doom's sword was constantly blocking him: Zero tried to punch Black Doom but he used the blade to block again and Zero jumped backwards to get ready for Black Doom's next incoming attack: they began to push towards each other but neither wielded to the other.

"Hmmm! Just give it up!" Zero insisted.

"Hmmm! This _naïve_ jerk…!" Black Doom grumbled.

"I ain't a _naïve_ jerk!" Zero shot back.

"Shaddup! I'm going to go down in glory! But not before beating you over and over again a hundred times in a row…!" Black Doom proclaimed.

"How foolish. You're blinded by your very own power." The manly voice dully announced.

"Drowning in power…" The girl's voice muttered with a hint of sadness to it, even.

"Who the hell are you?" Black Doom demanded as he kicked Zero away and looked over there.

"Who knows?" The manly voice dully countered.

"It matters not." The girl's voice replied.

"Not so fast, you! We've got a score to settle…!" Zero yelled as he flew towards him.

"Muwro~h…!" Gothmog's voice rang out and sounded like a mourning cry on the wake of death.

"Huh? They did it?" Zero wondered.

"The thing just deleted itself! It'd seem it's caught up that Twilight has lost so that's why it just deleted itself!" Shirakami reported.

"Well. One eyesore less… Regarding the other…"

"Huh? Huh… Fuck. Where am I? My head's a mess! Guh! I'm missing some memories! And what are you punk thinking of, laughing at me by disguising like me…!" "Original" Forte growled.

"Seems the mind control is receding too… Oi. Serenade's waiting for you to challenge him." "Copy" Forte told him.

"What! Serenade? This time I'll win!"

"There he goes. Too easy even… I dunno if he'll find a way to alter his looks but at least they'll help tell us apart…" "Copy" Forte sighed in relief and smiled over the screen.

"Yeah. Guess so." Shirakami sighed too.

"What a thing!" Blues cursed.

"Yeah. What a thing." Enzan admitted.

"I managed to end up alive even." Omega muttered while looking surprised with the fact.

"… Those voices…! Those figures…!" Barrel muttered.

"Huh? What?" Enzan asked.

"… Nothing. I'm over-reacting." He drily sentenced.

"No wonder… How are the others faring like, Mr. Barrel?" Enzan asked after apparently shrugging his shoulders.

"Almost everyone pulled out already… And I've got news that we've got control of the server building yet they're still trying to figure how to get into the servers… They're fed by an alternate system so cutting the electricity from the street won't affect them." Barrel reported.

"So once we get in we shut them down and paralyze this whole place so that it can't be used, right?"

"Yeah. Apparently there's been a discussion of the UN with the Norway government and they want to use Angband… For research."

"Research on Cyber World evolution, I guess…"

"Indeed. I suggested that." Yuuichirou confirmed.

"As long as it's used for peaceful purposes then I don't see a problem with it… Where did Blood Shadow and Sigma go to?" Barrel asked.

"They've finished rigging the reactor. We don't want someone to steal it and misuse it, right? It's gonna implode but the energy will be expelled to the surface through the heat ventilation shaft thus degrading in a natural manner as it climbs upwards." Omega replied.

"… Huff, huff… Damn it. I'm landing several blows on the red punk but I'm receiving several in exchange…"

"… Huff, huff… Just give it up!"

"How persistent! It annoys me, you know!"

"Not my problem. Give it up: be a good loser."

Black Doom and Zero had resorted to fisting showdown and were now panting from the blows each one had landed on the other: Zero tried to reason with him but Black Doom wouldn't listen.

"Look who is talking! Didn't you want Rock Man and Blues to delete you back then, when Rock Man fought you in the Zero Account? What was that, then?" Black Doom taunted.

"At that time I was a Virus and I was causing trouble for everyone so I thought it was the best thing to do! But ever since then I've become a Net Navi and helping people! The whole thing changed!" Zero argued back with some annoyance.

"Hmpf! Whatever. But there's one thing you haven't noticed yet and you should've thought of back in August." Black Doom shot back.

"What?"

"You did really think you'd destroyed Nebula Grey for good? Think again, blockheads! That thing can morph into several shapes and hide very easily plus duplicating itself… Their will has motivated us to keep at it!"

"Whatever. We'll eventually hunt it down and destroy it for good: that damned program can't be left unchecked." Zero was totally unimpressed by the taunting.

"The final blow! I'll slice your neck off! Hra~h!"

"Hra~h! I'll stop you!"

Black Doom rushed towards Zero while Zero rushed towards him to stop him but Black Doom suddenly changed his course and did a cut on Zero's right shoulder while Zero's inertia made him plunge his blade through the stomach area of Black Doom: he chuckled and pushed them apart while he looked at the wound: "Dark Power" was seeping out of it and self-deleting.

"Hmpf. Whatever… "Dark Power" or not it won't change the fact that I'm going to reunite with my Mistress on the Otherworld! Too bad, you bunch of punks! But I got the last laugh! Hah, hah, hah! Farewell!"

"Damn it!"

Laughing in a broken manner, Black Doom's wound began to spread as more and more "Dark Power" was lost until he was completely deleted and Zero lowered the sword: he sighed.

"I now feel like all of my efforts have been in vain." He muttered.

"Don't mind that: you've won the battle. Look on forward." The manly voice told him.

"Maybe it was for the best even." The girl's voice muttered.

"Alright, Zero. Let's head back and…! It couldn't be!"

Blues walked in and suddenly looked up to see the figures which vanished with a flash: Zero looked at it while apparently being confused but Blues kept on looking at the empty alcove.

_Those figures…? Colonel…? Iris…? How's that possible…? Maybe a little bit remained and can project images…? You came to encourage us? Then thank you, both of you… We've won the battle…!_


	49. Chapter 49: Snow

**Chapter 49: Snow**

10:22 AM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 30th…

"… So, Kanou Shade… What have you managed to do in these two days ever since the battle…?"

"A lot, Mr. Barrel… Well. We firstly had to rest but then we had help from Mr. Obihiro to inspect the system… And we found them. The "Admin" men… Twilight was smug enough to keep a list of them."

"I see. I heard Anaya and Izono have been interned into a high-security facility… No – one is going to get them outta there this time around: it's time they paid for their crimes."

"Indeed. Twilight was left in a largely weakened state… He'll live but he's been closed in the Navi Internment… I guess his arrogance will be the only fuel he'll get…"

"Regarding Angband… Omega helped us break into the server room at last and we've shut them down so that the whole compound has been placed in stasis… Now it's under joint UN – Norway custody and a team led by Hikari Yuuichirou – hakase is researching on it… We did blow the furnace up anyway."

Barrel and Kanou Shade were discussing inside of the Science Labs' Command Room: Kanou Shade did look tired and somewhat sluggish along with Barrel who was going over some notes.

"Fine enough… I'm glad the whole tale is over at last. Hard to believe it hasn't even been 14 days yet! It felt like an eternity even! But the results are coming out: those bandits are crumbling and fighting each other so the police can bring them down taking profit of their weakened status due to the in-fighting…" Kanou Shade yawned.

"Oi! Everyone! Snow's falling down!" Meijin exclaimed as he ran in having a smile on his face.

"Oh my. Snow. And I thought we wouldn't have it. This is something worth a check. I'm going out to have some fresh air."

"I'll go out too. I need to ventilate too."

"Ventilation Man will beat Air Man when it comes to fans." An amused voice rang out.

"Omega. Stop making up vain names."

"Yo! Kanou Saizou! Are ya gonna rob the Zurich Deposit Bank next? Heh, heh, heh!" Omega grinned as he suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and faced Kanou Shade.

"What?" Kanou Shade sounded offended.

"Never seen _Meitantei Conan_, my buddy?" He teased.

"I'm afraid not."

"Then there was a man named Kanou Saizou also titled the "Shadow Schemer" who back in the 1980s could toy with the police thanks to his flawless plans!" Omega announced.

"Come on! I wasn't around back then even."

"Maybe that gal came up with the naming from there, see."

"I wouldn't be surprised. When did that episode air?"

"January, 2000."

"Then it's obvious that it was why I was given this name. The "Shade" in my part must be an irony given how "Shade Man" ended up being an evil Net Navi." Kanou Shade muttered.

"If you've had enough with the ironies then step outta the way. Or your CO will get annoyed." Barrel commanded.

"Roger, Admiral Nelson! Heh, heh, heh."

Omega leapt into the ceiling and attached there before crawling across it at a quick speed and giggling.

"That guy…"

"Let us go."

Both came out into the foyer and, from there, into the front plaza: snow was indeed starting to fall and most of the employees, including Yuuichirou, were looking at it with smiles on their faces: Barrel formed a dry smile while Kanou Shade looked slightly animated.

"Snow Man's Incoming Direct Attack!"

BLOF!

"Whack!"

BLOF!

"Ooff!"

BLOF!

"Ow!"

BLOF

"How!"

"Omega. Stop the snow-ball war already."

Some balls of snow had been shot from different positions and hit four persons before Barrel spotted him hiding behind one of the decorative statues and using some snow which had been building up there: Omega merely grinned and leapt into the air to then attach to the façade of the building.

"I'm Jumping Man V 2005 dot 12!" He laughed.

"Please…" Gate Man grumbled.

"Yo! Gate Man! Cousin Gate Woman's waiting for ya behind the statue dedicated to Marshal Phillip Stupid!" Omega joked.

"That's… ridiculous. Totally." Gate Man groaned.

"Or maybe Gate Boy will treat you to the gossips of Stairwell 666 where 66 people live at in their 6 floors? The Devil's Stairwell, it's been called! And now you know the truth! The hidden truth! The concealed truth!"

"You call that "truth"? Don't make us laugh." Kanou Shade was starting to get annoyed.

"Kanie~! Bring me the elixir of wonderful rage~!"

"How can rage be wonderful?" Barrel questioned.

"'Cause it's the fashion, Admiral Incredible."

"Fashion? I'm about to get annoyed for real." Barrel grumbled.

"Annoyance Man will chat with Chat the Parrot?"

"No." He drily sentenced.

"Snow Coffee Man will haunt Meijin – chan's dreams?"

"Snow Coffee? Oh come on." Meijin groaned.

"Omega…!" Vadous grumbled over the radio.

"Yo! _Shachou_! Dow Jones went down again?" Omega grinned as he glanced at the right ear-pad.

"What Dow Jones and whatever? I'm not a stock market speculator! Learn your place you big bully!" Vadous grumbled back.

"O~h… Scary, scary~…" He giggled.

"I'm about to shut you in the capsule until tomorrow evening!" Vadous threatened.

"Tomorrow evening…? Oh yeah. I'd forgotten. New Year's Eve, right? I find it funny, though." Omega grinned as he seemingly recalled.

"What's funny about New Year's Eve?" He seemingly frowned.

"Well. That Eve is there given her reputation and all…"

"Grah! Don't come up with puns! Eve is short for "evening"! It has nothing do with THE Eve! And I don't want to step into thin ice either! Come back here before I get annoyed for real!" Vadous snapped.

"Scary, scary~… Scary Man's debut in the night of nights!"

"Halloween was two months ago you moron!"

"Oh my. I could've sworn it was only yesterday."

"You're trolling me and I know it! Come – back – HERE!"

"There and back again!" He laughed.

"Oh my. That's the subtitle of _The Hobbit_…" Pride muttered as she climbed up the stairs and spotted the commotion.

"Indeed." Knight Man confirmed.

"Princess Pride. Is something the matter?" Yuuichirou asked.

"No, I just wanted to see the snow."

"The Snow – Woman will come down from Mt. Fuji along with a vengeance~!" Omega trolled.

"How rude!" Pride fumed.

"Don't pick on the Princess, Omega!" Vadous growled.

"What… You wanna date her?"

"YOU GYROSCOPE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS FARCE!"

The purple "gateway" formed and swallowed Omega up while Pride and the others sighed in relief.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Now's my turn to jump into the stage! Beware of… my terrific secret weapon… the Evil Blessed Repulsive Perfume!"

"Not Sigma too." Kanou Shade grumbled.

"Oh come on." Vadous cursed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Crash Them All Man came with the 4:44 AM Liverpool express along with the flu." Sigma chuckled.

"SIGMA~! YOU SHIP-WRECKER! COME HERE! I'M ABOUT TO EXPLODE INTO PURE AND UNLEASHED RAGE~! NYA~H! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

The group sighed and rolled their eyes…

10:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Come in."

"Mr. Admin, sir, a follow-up report from Mr. Sponsor, sir…"

"Ah. Good, good, Mr. Denpa."

"Oh my. It is snowing?"

"It'd seem it was somewhat unforeseen: the meteorologists think a weather control satellite has something wrong with its settings yet given how it is very light snow and not violent snow-storm or hail then they're not going to bother changing it."

"Intriguing, sir."

The man known as "Mr. Denpa", today wearing a brown suit, green tie and brown pants along with shoes and sporting reading glasses came into the office of Mr. Admin who was looking at the snow falling beyond the window: the office had a desk with a MacBook computer atop it and some folders with documents: the man was clasping his hands behind him and looking calm: Mr. Denpa remained standing in the entrance after he'd closed the door.

"By the way… Did Chief Lezareno call?"

"Yes, sir. He's just called to report. The last of the 8 Admin men has been caught and it turned out to be one of "them" in the end… The "Common Patterns"… And not just _any_ Admin… THE Admin."

"What!"

Mr. Admin gasped and turned around, surprised.

"Indeed, sir. The Admin known was Admin 8 was the one who had the influence necessary to convince the other 7 to join the enterprise. But without him the enemy's top will have in-fighting to achieve power and weaken further… Some models suggest total collapse in less than 6 months' time even, sir!" Mr. Denpa reported.

"I see."

"Yet that wouldn't be the end of the "Committee", right?"

"Of course not. We can act as a private investigation agency. It's a way of working which would suit us." He calmly replied with a smile.

"Understood, sir. Regarding Mr. Sponsor's reports… They've located the only copy left of "Nebula Grey" hidden in the highest watch-tower of Angband and apparently thinking it was the King of the World yet Mr. Django came over and gave us hand in neutralizing it for good. It yelled something about a curse yet it was loser's speech, sir." Mr. Denpa read from the reports.

"Obviously."

An interphone buzzed and Mr. Admin walked over to it before pressing the "REPLY" button.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Mr. Admin, sir… A gentleman has come in and says he has to challenge you with his business' pride at stake, sir…" Someone reported.

"What? One of them?" Mr. Admin gasped.

"Well…" The person trailed off.

"Say yes or no!"

"Huh! N-no, sir, I don't think so, sir…"

"What kind of person are they?" Mr. Admin questioned.

"Well… I wouldn't place them in their 30s yet they look… mundane. I mean to say… they don't stand out. Yet they seem to be somewhat old-fashioned too…" The man nervously reported.

"A pistol duel…?" Mr. Admin tried to guess.

"More like _katana_ yet…"

"Yet? What's wrong? Answer me!"

"Y-yet I can't think he's being serious, sir. At all, sir."

"Why? They carry a _kendo_ sword instead?" Mr. Admin asked.

"W-well… That's…"

"Say yes or no, Takeda!" Mr. Admin commanded.

"Y-yes, sir! Well, sir… To be honest, sir… They don't look serious because they carry… unconventional weapons, sir…"

"Unconventional…? A Molotov cocktail…? A broken bottle…? A steel rod…? Boxers' gloves…? A Swiss Army knife…?" Mr. Admin tried to imagine while frowning.

"N-no, sir, none of those, sir…" Takeda corrected.

"Then quit with the suspense and tell me!"

"B-b-but, sir, it's so unbelievable, really, sir… I'd rather tell them to go away because they CAN'T be serious, sir…" Takeda gulped.

"Send them here! I want to see that with my eyes. Besides, I've got Mr. Denpa here." Mr. Admin ordered.

"R-roger, sir… Eh… 4th floor, southern side… There they run off to the elevator… Their Navi is arguing with them that the whole endeavor is pointless and ridiculous which I agree with…" Takeda muttered with obvious nervousness.

Mr. Denpa placed his back against the left wall next to the door and nodded to Mr. Admin as he got into a fighting pose ready to tackle whoever may come in through the door: hurried footsteps could be heard coming closer and there was a stop followed by the breathing of someone who was trying to regain his breath: muffled voices could be heard but no words could be properly picked up.

"There they are. Let them come." Mr. Admin muttered as he reached for his inner pocket and took out a service revolver which he aimed at the door.

"I am ready anytime, sir. Should I tackle them right away?"

"You have my authorization, Mr. Denpa."

There was a timid knock on the door and Mr. Admin looked slightly surprised by the shyness in the knock.

"Come in." He announced.

The doorknob turned in a slow manner and the door began to swing inwards at a slow rate while the voices became a bit louder yet none of the two men could pick up any words yet.

"Now!" Mr. Admin commanded.

"Hrah!"

THUD! CRASH!

"Freeze."

"See? I told you we'd end up in a bad spot!"

"Kuwa~h!"

"By all the… This man…!"

"You know who he is? And why does he carry those things? Was he trying to cleanse the office or what?"

"W-well… No, sir… I now see why Takeda insisted that they couldn't be serious to begin with and I'm not surprised anymore."

"Yet are they an enemy or not?"

"Enemy? Not at all, sir! This man might have done lesser crimes in the past but then redeemed himself."

"True. He doesn't look very strong or terribly intelligent either. Just who is he supposed to be and why did he come here?"

"I suspect someone else led him here with the purpose of pulling a prank on us… The 28th of December is equivalent to April's Fools in Spain so maybe they thought they were pending a prank. So? Who sent you here, my good man? Or will you tell us instead, Mr. Navi."

"That guy, from the other store… You know who I mean."

"As expected of you… _Higure Yamitarou_!"

The "challenger" turned out to be Higure dressed in his _yukata_ and having that bandana plus having brought the broom and mop: Mr. Denpa was keeping him immobilized with a _judo_ technique while Mr. Admin was aiming the gun at him: Higure seemed to have fainted from the scare while Number Man was pretty annoyed by now.

"Higure Yamitarou…? Isn't there a store named Higureya?"

"Indeed. And he's the owner. He hates swords because you can get cut with them so he came up with these in their place. And I know who led him here… "Copy" Forte!" Mr. Denpa grumbled.

"Oh by all the. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen." Mr. Admin sighed as he pocketed the revolver.

"That's why I kept on telling Yamitarou to quit it but no~! The guy wouldn't listen to me~! He's so stubborn when he wants to! Hear that, Yamitarou? You got fooled again, you remote-controlled projectile – like guy!" Number Man scolded him.

"De masu~… The walking disaster ran me over, de masu~… I've got back luck, de masu~…"

"The walking disaster? No! You got tackled because they thought you were going to attack them! Bursting into an insurance company like this and demanding to see the CEO of it…! Anyone would think you're a mercenary!" Number Man fumed.

Mr. Denpa sighed and stood up while shaking his head to express annoyance at the whole thing: both resumed looking at the snow while Higure picked his things and ran off while being obviously ashamed of what he'd done.

"Well! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, sir… It'll be an important night: we shall be stepping into the year 2006… It may bring fortune along"

Mr. Admin merely nodded in agreement and looked at the falling snow while forming a pleasant smile…


	50. Chapter 50: New Year's Eve

**Chapter 50: New Year's Eve**

22:22 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 31st…

"… Hmmm! These vegetable noodles are exquisite! As expected of Yaito: she always manages to get excellent food!"

"Yeah. And now that Papa's finished this program for me to process food and drink as energy I can enjoy them… It's taken him years of researches but it seems to be working… Now I feel I'm step closer to recalling the human I used to be!"

"I'm glad of it, Saito."

"By the way, dears… Did you hear of what happened to Higure – san yesterday? It was very funny!"

"What happened?"

The twins and their parents were having the New Year's Eve dinner at the Ayanokouji Mansion: Saito was sipping some noodles when Haruka brought the topic up and the three of them looked at her as she giggled and seemed to find it funny.

"Higure – san went to an office of some company and challenge the CEO to a broom and mop fight but they thought he'd come to cleanse the office so they had him cleanse the whole 2 floors the company occupied and he ended up beaten!" She giggled.

"Wha~t? De masu~! Ma'am! Who said that, de masu? I beg of you, m'aam! Please tell me! De masu!" Higure jumped off his chair on the table to the right and kneeled next to Haruka's chair while making a reverence and pleading.

"Oh my. Number Man – san told me."

"Wha~t? De masu! Number Man! Why did you distort the reality, de masu? I demand an explanation! De masu!"

"I didn't." Number Man quickly replied.

"… "Copy" Forte." The twins grumbled.

"Yo! Someone called?" "Copy" Forte asked as he showed up next to them with his civilian clothes.

"That wasn't funny." Yuuichirou sighed.

"Yet Ms. Wife did find it funny."

"Well…" Yuuichirou trailed off.

"What _really_ happened there?" Netto demanded.

"Yeah. Where's Shirakami?"

"Trying to dock the ship in the soup's shores, ya see~!"

"What in the… That was so silly." Shirakami grumbled as he came up behind him.

"Who knows?"

"Grfjtx! We'll settle this later. Anyway! Yeah. Higure – san went to challenge those "Committee" guys yet they reduced him thinking he'd come to attack them instead… They let him go and he ran off but point is that this guy over here tricked Higure – san."

"I thought as much." Yuuichirou wasn't surprised.

"Oh my. That's some bad luck." Haruka muttered.

"No, ma'am! This is a trick, ma'am! De masu! I'll settle the score with my new Riding Beating Jumping Broom and my Dancing Running Calling Mop, de masu! My word! De masu!" Higure protested.

"Higure – sa~n! The soup is going to turn cold!" Mariko called out from the adjacent table.

"Yikes! De masu!"

He rushed back to his chair and began to chat with Mariko while eating his soup: "Copy" Forte grinned and returned to his chair while Shirakami directed a skeptical glare at him.

"This guy…"

"What became of "Original" Forte, anyway?" Netto asked.

"Tried to challenge Serenade but lost so he's run off somewhere to try to grow stronger. He won't change." Shirakami summed up.

"Yup! Serenade told me that." Urakawa smiled.

"Grand saw it too. He was lacking focus and he wasn't used to the changes on his body even though his attacks have reverted to normal power and scale by now." Obihiro shrugged his shoulders.

"It'd be best to let him be." Freeze Man merely suggested.

"_Senpai_'s right: there's no talking the guy outta it." Grand calmly added with a shrug of the shoulders.

"He is as he is: I've always felt pity for him." Serenade calmly muttered over Urakawa's PET.

"Yessir! My Metal Man's fists are harder than steel! He'll eventually evolve into Steel Man!" Tamako laughed.

"Jeez." Metal Man didn't find it funny.

"Totem – sama says the harvests will be good!" Dingo announced.

"Guess they'll be." Tomahawk Man shrugged his shoulders.

"Hum. So another year came to pass." Dark Miyabi muttered.

"Indeed, My Master."

"Guess I'll have better luck with the requests." Dark Kirisaki dully muttered as he looked at the ceiling.

"Nyah, hah, hah! Sure thing!" Killer Man laughed.

"How romantic… A snow-filled New Year's Eve…" Jasmine muttered while looking like she was day-dreaming.

"I think this winter won't be as cold as last year's." Meddy commented with a smile.

"Hmmm…!" Meiru muttered.

"Come on, Meiru – chan. Those jealousy fits don't match you. Besides, it's not like she's tried to convince Netto – san to go out with her on a date, has she?" Roll sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Well. Guess so." She fumed.

"Guts, guts! Guts Man will grow stronger thanks to this "Hyper Vitamin" he got for free! Guts!" Guts Man exclaimed.

"Yessir! The ultimate power booster!" Dekao proclaimed.

"I'm skeptical." Laika muttered from another table as he heard to Dekao's boasts.

"Ooyama doesn't know when to shut up." Enzan drily muttered.

"But you're good at other stuff too, Ijuuin…" Laika made a smug smile and glanced at Enzan.

"So what?" He was unimpressed.

"I fail to catch the point." Search Man whispered to Blues.

"I do too." Blues admitted.

"Oh my. I somehow doubt it, Dekao – kun." Yaito looked amused at Dekao's boasting.

"I am skeptical of such claims as well." Glyde politely added.

"Ya don't believe the invincible great me?" Dekao asked.

"Chu! Niichan's telling lies again, chu!" Chisao protested.

"Yikes!"

"That "Hyper Vitamin" was sold by a not-so-smart-looking-Navi! Chu! I wouldn't trust them, chu!" Chisao added.

"I guess it was Bubble Man." Kanou Shade muttered.

"He said "puku, puku" the whole time! Chu!" Chisao added.

"Then that's the man."

"Hyper Vitamin: activate!" Dekao laughed.

"… GATTSU~! BUG, GUTS! A BUG, DE GUTS! MY HP IS FALLING, DE GUTS! DEKAO – SAMA~! Uo~h!"

"A~h! Guts Man!"

"Chu! I knew it! Chu!"

"See?" Laika shrugged his shoulders.

"No big surprise." Enzan drily muttered.

"Really…" Pride muttered.

"What a villain!" Knight Man grumbled.

"Heh! The fireworks are ready, Missy!" Nenji came in while grinning and looking in a good mood.

"Alright! Are they timed to set off at exactly 12:00:05 AM?" Yaito asked of him.

"Count on the great me~!" Napalm Man exclaimed.

"And count on Uncle Sneak too." A voice added.

"Yeah, yeah. I know and… Wait a min, cha! Uncle Sneak? Who the heck is that? Show your ugly and repellent hides!" Yaito commanded.

"Boo."

"Kya~h!"

"Kyah Girl will be the protagonist of "_Why didn't they ask Kyah Girl?_" starring Chip Vendor Deal and Company!"

"T-this PERVERT!"

"OMEGA~!"

"Ops. Time to flee and secure a rocket headed for Pluto. _Ciao, caro mio_! _E la comedia e finita_!"

"You nitwit!"

"Beat 'em, beat 'em!"

Omega suddenly detached his upper body from the ceiling while keeping the soils of his boots attached there and dropped in front of Yaito while having a broad grin on his face: she shrieked and Vadous ran towards him from his table but Omega quickly snuck away by crawling across the ceiling and outta the room: Vadous gave chase.

"Man." Netto muttered.

"That Omega – san won't learn, really."

"Sadly, no." Blood Shadow sighed from Netto's PET.

"We dropped by to say hi and the thing ended up like this… Sir Omega has been seeing too many _Spider – Man _comic books…" Sigma sighed in defeat and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hum." Barrel calmly muttered.

"Yaito – sama: a phone call." Glyde reported.

"Hi, hi?" Yaito asked.

"Complete… global… saturation…" A dull voice announced while drawing breath in before exhaling in a sinister hiss.

"W-what?" Yaito gasped.

"Commendable, yet futile… Your future hinges upon this pool… This pool of malice and evil…" The voice began to sound amused.

"Pool of malice and evil…? Oi! Wait a min! Cha! Ya can't possibly mean MY indoors pool, right?" She questioned.

"I'm a PTS agent. And I know something hideous has happened here: the air reeks of it! And I did find a suspicious suitcase with equally suspicious artifacts sponsored by Uncle Yanagi." The voice added.

"Yanagi…? Where have I heard that name before…?" Netto frowned and seemed to be recalling.

"Blood Shadow. Could you look it up?" Saito requested.

"I'm on it… No, not a plant… A guy… Hmmm… Ah. There it is. Oh, I see, I see… _Pocket Monsters Gold, Silver & Crystal_… Gym Leader of Chouji Town, Yanagi, Ice – Pokemon user… 7th Johto Gym Leader…" Blood Shadow told them after looking it up.

"OMEGA~! What are you doing butting into rooms without permission from Ms. Ayanokouji? Are you intending to wreck the New Year's Eve party or WHAT?" Vadous grumbled.

"Eve showed up to crackpot on Adam!" Omega laughed.

"GRJFTX! I don't need to listen to that!" Vadous cursed.

"Dan Brown tells you the tales of Rome are a lie~!"

"So what! That's a hypothesis!"

"Ya don't wanna get a postcard saying "_Et tu, Zataki?_" then?"

"I don't care about that! Get out and behave like a guy would do! You should be ashamed of acting like a 7 years old kid instead of a guy having a mental age of 17~19!" Vadous commanded.

"Napalm Man is gonna become Burn Them All Man!"

"Wha~t? Ya wanna fight! Come! I won't lose in a fair and square match no matter what!" Napalm Man growled.

"Ya asked for it, punk!" Nenji grumbled.

"Tomahawk Man is gonna become Pray To All of Them Man!"

"By all the… This is so idiotic, really." Tomahawk Man groaned.

"Bring it on, twerp! My tomahawk will win!" Dingo grinned as he stood up and drew it.

"Ahem, ahem!" Yaito cleared her throat.

"Yikes! Alright, alright. I didn't say anything." Dingo gulped and sat back down on his chair.

"Omega! Don't spoil Ms. Ayanokouji's party! Get down here already, you!"

"Oho. And what if I don't come down? You'll ring up STARS and tell them to bring me down? Or will Leon Scott Kennedy come instead? I'll get his rookie cop autograph! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"GRFJTX!"

"Omega. If cha don't get down from there I'll pour my anger into cha and make mincemeat of cha~!" Yaito yelled.

"… Alright, alright. We don't wanna have a Jacqueline the Ripper so I'm going to compare notes with Brad Shad. See ya."

"Phew." Vadous sighed in relief.

"Pst! Brad Shad… Come over here for a sec… I'm stuck at the Fusube City part… What do I need to do to get the medal from Ms. Ibuki in my _Silver_ game? I guess I skipped the text too fast…" Omega whispered.

"Oh, well… Sir. You need to into the "Dragon's Hole" and find a "Dragon's Fang" there… Once you do, sir, Ms. Ibuki will grant you the "Rising Badge" which will allow you to use "Waterfall-riding" outside of battle thus being able to cross into Kanto Region and head for the Pokémon League in Sekiei Plateau… There one can fight the "Four Heavenly Kings" and the "League Champion", sir…" Blood Shadow explained.

"Alright, Brad Shad. I'll bring that "Dragon's Fang" with me as a little _souvenir_… Heh, heh, heh." Omega grinned.

"No good." Blood Shadow grimly muttered.

"So! Brad Shad! Ya wanna go into a date with Kasumi~?" Sigma whispered to him in an exaggerated conspiracy tone.

"No. And that's definitive. Go try to beat "Red" and then we'll talk about what's serious and what's not, you big guy." He grumbled.

"Reddie's asking for a fight, eh? I guess Dark Man must be hunting Viruses and Yamato Man training… I suspect King Man practicing for the next tournament 'long Torakichi~…" Sigma chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

23:54 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Six minutes pending! Everyone! Be ready! Nenji – san: is the fireworks' timer set?"

"Yes, Missy! They'll start up on the agreed moment!"

"Good!"

Everyone had finished the supper and several bottles of champagne had been set on the tables ready to be uncorked along with cups: Yaito's maids remained ready while she checked with Nenji the last details: she looked ecstatic.

"… Heh… I've kept on telling myself it was crazy but it could be true in the end too…" Barrel suddenly muttered.

"Huh? Excuse me?" Vadous asked.

"… You mean those two figures?" Zero asked as he showed up on Vadous' empty Link PET.

"Yeah. I'm sure they were Colonel and Iris… Maybe a bit of them has survived and they felt like they couldn't depart until this whole conflict was over… They gave us the boost we needed in the end… I'm not going to weep: Colonel is giving me one message and that's to be strong and always remember that he fought for what he believed into…" Barrel admitted with a weak smile.

"Barrel – san…" Netto muttered.

"Oho! 23:57 PM already… Everyone! Get ready! Nenji – san! Check on the fireworks again if you may!" Yaito exclaimed as she stood up.

Everyone followed suit and the muttering of excitement began to build up in the room: Nenji blinked Yaito an eye and she nodded in understanding given her smile.

"23:58:44!" She exclaimed as she drew a chronometer.

"I can hear the signals inside of that little thing. It's on time, alright, so let's get ready." Saito grinned.

"23:59:11!"

"What nerves…!" Netto gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh." Yuuichirou chuckled.

"Tee, heh, heh." Haruka giggled.

"23:59:32!"

"Get ready, Napalm Man!" Nenji whispered.

"Oh yeah! Leave it up to the great me." Napalm Man laughed.

"23:59:48!"

"Come…!" Several voices anxiously muttered.

"23:59:53!"

"Coming…!"

"23:59:58! 23:59:59! 24:00:00! It came!"

The sound of bells rang out immediately followed by the hiss and bangs of the fireworks exploding above the front garden: a round of applause rang out and the champagne bottles were uncorked.

"WELCOME, YEAR 2006!" Everyone exclaimed.

There was a general toast and laughing and then everyone headed for the veranda to watch the fireworks shooting up into the skies to then explode into awe-inspiring patterns: everyone gasped when they saw two fireworks which formed the figures of Colonel and Iris.

"That was my idea! I'm sure those two are watching over us so let's tell them we've not forgotten them!" Yaito exclaimed.

"Colonel, Iris…" Barrel formed a smile.

"The peace you fought for… has become reality." The twins smiled as well.

Everyone smiled as they kept on looking at the spectacle…

**THE END**


End file.
